Giant Hogweed

Heracleum mantegazzianum

Giant Hogweed is a tall plant that can grow as high as a house! It has big, green leaves and produces white flowers that look like umbrellas. It's important to be careful around it because it can cause skin irritation.

Habitat: Wetlands

Appearance

The Giant Hogweed is a towering plant, often over 3 meters tall, with thick, hollow stems mottled with purple blotches and covered in bristly white hairs. Its enormous, deeply lobed leaves can be over a meter wide, and it boasts colossal umbrella-shaped clusters of tiny white flowers.

KingdomPlantaePhylumTracheophytaClassMagnoliopsidaOrderApialesFamilyApiaceaeGenusHeracleum

Giant Hogweed

Interesting facts

A single plant can unleash up to 50,000 seeds to conquer new areas!

It can regrow from its root even after being cut down, making it tough to remove!

Its enormous leaves can grow over a meter wide, blocking sunlight from other plants!

The sap makes your skin super sensitive to sun, causing nasty burns!

Special abilities

Giant Hogweed can grow incredibly fast, reaching impressive heights quickly, which helps it outcompete surrounding native plants for light and space.

Giant Hogweed can produce tens of thousands of seeds per plant, enabling it to spread widely and establish new populations rapidly.

Measurements & details

Height: 200-500 cm
Spread: 100-250 cm
Flower Size: 20-50 cm
Bloom Season: Summer
Edible: No
Toxicity: High
Lifecycle: Biennial
Pollination Method: Insect

Ecological connections

pollinates

European honey bee

Apis mellifera

Attracted to its large, nectar-rich flower heads.

pollinates

Common Eastern bumblebee

Bombus impatiens

Visits the plant's wide umbels for pollen and nectar.

pollinates

Common bluebottle fly

Calliphora vicina

One of many generalist insects that pollinate the flowers.

Traits

Flowering

Flowering plants are any plants that produce flowers as part of their reproductive cycle.

Biennial

Biennial plants complete their life cycle over two growing seasons, typically forming foliage in the first year and flowering/seeding in the second.

Pollinator Magnet

Describes plants that are particularly attractive and beneficial to a wide range of pollinating organisms.

Wetland

This habitat trait identifies species found in wetlands, which are areas of land saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, including marshes, swamps, and bogs.