It can cause severe burns and it’s growing wild in the Quinte Area.
Wild Parsnip, the plant looks harmless like a dill plant but like Giant Hogweed and other members of the carrot family, it produces sap containing chemicals that can cause human skin to react to sunlight, resulting in intense burns, rashes or blisters.
Alison Kirkpatrick is a Invasive Species Outreach Liaison with Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. She says there are large populations of Wild Parsnip just east of Belleville heading into the Ottawa area.
Kirkpatrick says Giant Hogweed isn’t as a big of concern in Quinte as Wild Parsnip is.
Kirkpatrick says if you think you have the plant on your property, don’t touch it. Take a picture and email it to the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters so they can add it to their map.
The early detections and distribution map for Giant Hogweed can be found by clicking here.
You can access a booklet on Wild Parsnip by clicking here.
For more information on Giant Hog Weed click here.