Cow Parsnip

Anyone else hate this stuff?

I don't know about where you guys are, but out here there seems to be a bumper crop of it this year. I have never seen so much, and seen it so tall. It's averaging between 6 1/2 - 9 1/2 feet tall (and those are just ones by the road that I measured). It's sprouting up a every where.

Today I went out to cut it out of my unruly gone while currant berry patch, thinking I could just load it on the trailer and haul it away with the quad. So after I was done cutting it down, I realized my husband had loaded the hot tub on the trailer and it's parked up on the hill incase it floods. Ah well, balanced it on the wheel barrel and hauled it away, and had a shower just in case I got any of the juice on me.

This stuff has me a little freaked because a few years ago, my kids were playing in the field and karate chopped a bunch of it down and I didn't realize that if you get the juice of the plant on you and the UV rays from the sun get's on it it will cause burns. My kids ended up with pretty bad burns all over their arms. It looked like someone splashed them with hot oil. Fluid filled blisters. It took me a while to figure out what happened. Even the doctor couldn't figure it out when I took them in to get them checked. A news story about Hogweed prompted me to research Cow Parsnip, and found out about the juice of it.

This picture doesn't really do it justice because I am standing up on our deck looking down at it. There is a beautiful blackberry patch in there, but this year you can't even see it at all. I keep a trail mowed through it in between our place and the cable car. It's a little strange walking through there, and in the fall I get a little jumpy. I've looked out the window and seen bears disappear into it.
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My daughter standing by some in the trail.
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I usually try and look on the bright side of things, and if I had to find something I could say that I liked about it it would have to be that I like the smell of it when you mow it, and I like some of the bugs (not all) it attracts with it's beauty.
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Anyways, I'm wondering how everyone else deals with this, and how it affects your animals?

Anyway to get rid of it besides spraying nasty stuff on it? I have some in my flower garden that I have to keep digging up all the time and it just comes back.

Are you sure that's cow parsnip, not hogweed? They're related, but hogweed is VERY NASTY and invasive. Be careful (and try to get rid of it where you can). Regular cow parnip, Heracleum lanatum, is relatively harmless, although it can also irritate the skin. At least it's smaller.

"Heracleum mantegazzianum, Giant Hogweed, is a native of the Caucasus Mountains, grows to 4-5m tall, and can cause severe phytophotodermatitis if the sap gets on human skin. The main mechanism for this dermatitis is extreme photosensitivity, causing severe sunburn on exposure to relatively small amounts of sunlight, with rash and blistering appearing within a few minutes: accordingly immediately covering sap-affected skin can prevent the dermatitis in many cases. It has become a serious invasive weed in many areas of Europe and North America, after being introduced as a garden plant."

Here is a nice thing about Cow Parsnip. When it dries you can use the hollow stalks to make flutes!

Oh wow, what a plant. I have never seen this plant and I have been in BC all my life. Maybe I have, but I surely don't remember it. It looks horribly invasive and that is one tall plant. Kind of reminds me of the Japanese knotweed that was so prevalent back on the coast, and also very invasive. Hollow stems. I am sure we have this plant around our area, but have never noticed it. Looks horrible, by the way, in that it is clearly very invasive. Bad.

We have had an overrun of some kind of plant this year, I think it is some kind of thistle. I actually do not know. I have spent eons in the garden weeding this year, whereas last year hardly any weeding. I need to probably get a picture of this weed and see if I can identify it. It is EVERYWHERE and is a very bad nuisance. I think that plants, like insects, have their years of plenty. Like that brown stink bug the summer before last, what an invasion, and they are pretty big. Boy, nice pictures Silkie, again, have a most wonderful day, CynthiaM.

ipf, I'm pretty sure it's Cow Parsnip. The Hogweed has leaves that are cut more deeply, and is quite a bit taller then this stuff.

Sue, How do you make the flutes? I think that would be a lot of fun for the kids! (as if the shrieking of recorders isn't bad enough... maybe the cow parsnip flutes are a little quieter? lol ) Might as well make the best of it!

Cythia, if you want me to send you some seeds.... Ha ha ha! No, I wouldn't wish this on anyone! It would be interesting to see your annoying weed.

I think when it flooded in 2007, the seeds from the cow parsnip floated everywhere.

When the stalks die and dry out, snap them off. Find one of those solid areas that goes through the stalk. Cut the stalk say, 10 cm above the solid area. Cut it an a small angle and blow across, adjusting the angle of the stalk until you get a sound.

Once I make a full set of pan pipes! But work gently, they are brittle!

Well, we'll have to give that a try this winter. Doesn't matter if they are brittle. It's not like we're going to run out of them anytime soon! Thanks for the idea! See, there is a bright side to everything! When life gives you Cow Parsnip, make flutes!

Silkie, I'll get some pictures of the annoying weed. I am not sure what it is cause I can't remember what it looked like as mature, but it is comin'.....got all stages of it. I think it is in the thistle family, it is horrendous. I think the rains brought seeds from somewhere too, millions of the plants everywhere!! Awful crap. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.