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People say: if you want to annoy your neighbor, put a handful of Sosnovsky’s hogweed seeds in his garden. What kind of plant is this and why are gardeners so afraid of it?
Hogweed – in Latin – Herácléum is a member of the umbrella family and has 52 species. Most of them grow in the Eastern Hemisphere, in its temperate regions. On the territory of our country there are 40 species of plants of this genus. Until recently, Siberian hogweed was considered the most common. Over the past 30 years, Sosnowsky’s hogweed has gradually become a leader.
A bit of history
There are several versions of the history of the appearance of this plant. Some believe that Sosnowski’s cow parsnip is the result of genetic research by a secret institute. But if we take into account the attitude of the government of the USSR in the late 30s and 40s, in particular Stalin, to genetics, this version seems problematic.
The answer to the question can be suggested by the Latin name of the plant – Herácléum sosnovskyi Manden. The last word is an abbreviation of the name of the biologist who identified and described it. It belongs to Ida Panovna Mandenova, a Soviet and Georgian systematic botanist. She has several more species of giant hogweed, which she identified and described while studying the flora of the Caucasus in the 40s of the XX century. Sosnovsky’s hogweed was named after Dmitry Ivanovich Sosnovsky, who did a lot to study the flora of the Caucasus. The plant Sosnovsky’s hogweed existed in nature for a long time, but had a rather limited habitat. Its distribution is the “merit” of the man who introduced this giant into culture, which led to an anthropogenic environmental catastrophe.
For the first time, experiments on the introduction of this plant into culture began in 1946, 4 years after the death of Academician Vavilov, who is credited with these studies. Engaged in experiments at the Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden, located in the Murmansk region. Such an unusual choice of region can be explained by the fact that in nature most species of hogweed grow in the subalpine zone.
Sosnovsky’s cow parsnip was intended to feed animals. The huge biological mass of the plant – up to 2500 centners per hectare – gave bright prospects for using it as a forage crop. But the hopes were not justified. Milk from cows from such food became bitter. Since Sosnovsky’s cow parsnip turned out to be an antiseptic, it was not possible to ferment milk for processing. Due to the strong estrogenic activity of this plant, cows began to have problems with reproduction. The calves did not hatch. As a result, they stopped feeding this crop to livestock, but the mechanism of plant settlement had already been launched.
Biological features of hogweed Sosnovsky
The description of this plant should begin with its gigantic size.
- Height can reach 3 m.
- Stem thickness – up to 8 cm.
- The tap root goes deep into the ground up to 2 m.
- Impressive leaves ending in small spikes, reaching a width of 1,2 m and a length of 1,5 m.
- Flowers – huge umbrellas up to 40 cm in diameter, bearing a total of up to 80 flowers. Here they are pictured in all their glory.
- The plant is monoecious, so it does not need a pollinator. Even a single copy can start a whole colony of giants. Flowers are pollinated by insects.
The number of seeds in the grass of Hercules allows it to successfully conquer all new territories, the record holders have up to 35 of them. And such a property as monocarpicity, that is, the ability to grow until the plant blooms and gives seeds, makes it very difficult to fight against hogweed. The growth process to flowering can take up to 000 years even with annual mowing. Seed germination is high and is up to 12%. Their maximum viability is 89 years. They are light and carried by the wind over long distances.
- This plant blooms in July-August, and the seeds ripen in August-September.
- The stem has pubescence.
- Different types of hogweed can interbreed, forming hybrids.
But not only the gigantic size allows this plant to dominate and displace its neighbors.
Interesting fact
Most often, Sosnovsky’s hogweed grows in places with disturbed grass cover – near former cowsheds and in places where unripe manure has accumulated, where livestock often walks. There is a simple explanation for this fact. The fact is that Sosnowsky’s hogweed feeds on cyanobacteria and other anaerobic bacteria, which are present in excess in places with low oxygen content, namely where there is an accumulation of manure.
An avalanche-like process is observed: the better this plant feeds and grows, the less oxygen is next to it, the more actively cyanobacteria multiply. To get rid of competitors, the plant has learned to release special substances into the soil that have a detrimental effect on cells that have a nucleus. These substances prevent them from dividing, effectively destroying them. Cyanobacteria and other anaerobes do not have a nucleus, and only hogweed gets everything. This feature makes it not killed, but at the same time somewhat limits the habitat.
Dangerous properties of hogweed Sosnovsky
Why is Sosnovsky’s cow parsnip dangerous? The essential oils included in its composition, the main active ingredient of which are furocoumarins, which have a photosensitizing effect, causing photodermatosis on the skin. The alkaloids and triterpene saponins contained in this giant are also considered poisonous to humans. Consequently, Sosnovsky’s hogweed is a poisonous plant, all its parts are dangerous, especially in the generative phase of development: during flowering and seed ripening.
Never come close to Sosnovsky’s cow parsnip, and even more so do not touch it.
The photo shows the consequences of contact with this dangerous plant.
The effect of essential oils on the skin is that it completely deprives it of protection from ultraviolet radiation. Therefore, burns occur on the skin after contact and even just being near the plant, which sometimes reach 3 degrees.
They are very painful, difficult to treat and do not heal for a long time. Most often, such burns have to be treated in a hospital. Recovery may take more than one month. Burns leave painful scars.
A burn that affects the outer membranes of the eyes can result in blindness, since it also affects the cornea.
Unfortunately, some time elapses between the action of ethereal vapors of hogweed on the skin and the appearance of skin reactions, about a quarter of an hour, contact with a dangerous plant continues and the degree of damage increases, so the consequences of burns are very serious, even fatal.
Burns from it are not so strong, but no less painful.
How to minimize the consequences of contact with Sosnovsky’s hogweed is shown in the video:
This plant is especially dangerous for people with allergies. Contact with it can cause allergy sufferers, the so-called Quincke’s edema, when the larynx, which is swollen from the inside, simply does not allow a person to breathe.
Interesting fact
A lot of negative things can be said about hogweed, but it also has medicinal properties. This plant acts as
- soothing;
- pain reliever;
- antiseptic and anti-inflammatory;
- anticonvulsant;
- antispasmodic;
- antipruritic.
The spectrum of therapeutic action of this plant is quite wide. Based on it, effective drugs have been created for the treatment of many diseases.
The Institute of Biology of the Republic of Komi received a patent for the use of a preparation from Sosnovsky’s hogweed to suppress salmonella, and Sukhanov A.I. proposes to treat psoriasis with tincture of this plant, he also received a patent for this method.
Hogweed Sosnowski, when studied in detail, also revealed other useful properties.
The benefits of hogweed Sosnovsky
- Having studied annual plants, scientists A. I. Sigaev and P. V. Musikhin found out that their composition and physical properties are close to reeds. Scientists managed to get a fibrous semi-finished product containing cellulose. It is able to partially replace wood raw materials in the production of packaging board.
- Successful studies were carried out to obtain bioethanol from the raw material of hogweed, which is a biofuel.
- With the use of Sosnowski’s hogweed as a fodder crop, not everything is clear either. Sosnovsky’s hogweed contains a lot of protein, which makes it possible to use it as a fodder crop, but with certain restrictions. Silage from this plant, mixed with other high-protein crops, can be fed to animals not intended to produce offspring and milk: calves, bulls, fattening cows. Since furocoumarins are also present in hogweed silage, its amount must be strictly regulated. In small doses, these substances increase the productivity of animals, in large doses they are poison.
Interesting facts: there are very exotic ways to use hogweed, for example, as a musical instrument or material to protect the trunks of young trees from mice.
The photo shows a chandelier made of Sosnowski’s hogweed.
Ways to deal with Sosnovsky’s cow parsnip
But still, the harm from it is much more than good. The increasing spread of this poisonous plant worries people in different countries. The issue of combating it is being decided at the government level, in many countries there are already state programs aimed at eliminating this environmental catastrophe. The number of hogweed plants is constantly growing, they capture more and more new territories, suppressing wild and cultivated plants growing nearby.
Is it possible to fight him? The experience of different countries shows that it is possible, and quite successfully. There are effective ways to deal with this giant grass that will help rid the territory of our country of the hogweed, leaving it with its original habitat.
What needs to be done to curb the cow parsnip
- Herbicide can be used against Sosnovsky’s hogweed. The most common is Roundup. Its concentration should not be less than 360 g/l. Plants will have to be processed more than once per season. The main condition is the amount of wetted leaves of at least 70%. Any method of processing can be applied: sprayer, paint brush. The greatest effect is observed when the plant is treated in the phase of leaf regrowth. Processing of plants is carried out in a chemical protection suit.
- Agricultural practices. Mowing the grass of Hercules gives an effect only on condition of subsequent plowing, repeated disking and settlement of the site with perennial grasses or planting potatoes. It is impossible to mow the cow parsnip with a scythe or a trimmer, since small parts of the plant may get into unprotected areas of the body.
- The use of a geotextile is possible if it is covered with earth from above with a layer of at least 5 cm and sown with lawn grasses. Geotextiles are laid on crushed plants.
- Using black film. A black film is laid on the sloping surface of the earth and pressed well. In the next season, the site must be sown with grass or a crop that needs frequent loosening.
Control measures that do not work
- Normal bevelling.
- Cutting and uprooting of rhizomes.
- Application of black non-woven fabric.
Hogweed Sosnovsky has a relative that is often found throughout our country, which not only is not a poisonous plant, but has long been used for food purposes – Siberian hogweed or bunch. These two types are slightly different. Siberian hogweed is smaller than its counterpart, it does not grow higher than 1,8 m. There are other differences: the leaves of the bundles are more dissected, the stem branches at the top and is pubescent more strongly than that of Sosnovsky’s hogweed.
There are also differences in the inflorescences and their constituent flowers. The flowers have yellowish-green petals, and the rays of the complex umbrella inflorescence are pubescent. Siberian hogweed emits a slight smell inherent only to it.
There is also a difference in the habitats of these plants: Sosnovsky’s hogweed loves moist soils, but waterlogging is fatal for him, and his Siberian counterpart grows well in flood meadows, along the banks of streams and rivers – where the soils are wet. You can meet him in sparse forests.
This species has long been used for food. This is also evidenced by numerous local names: hogweed, wild sorrel, borscht. Young shoots and leaves are eaten, the decoction of which smells like mushrooms. The leaves are put in a salad, and their petioles are marinated. From the plant, caviar is obtained, which tastes like eggplant.
The green mass of Siberian hogweed is readily eaten by livestock.
Conclusion
In nature, there is a law of equilibrium of species. Its violation due to ill-conceived human actions in relation to the animal or plant world leads to environmental disasters. There are many examples of this. It also happened with Sosnowski’s cow parsnip. And if at one time it was thoughtlessly introduced into culture, now they are also thoughtlessly trying to destroy it. Perhaps, having studied Sosnovsky’s hogweed in detail, humanity will wake up and begin to breed again what is so violently destroying today.