Giant hogweed is a troublesome and expansive species. But it is not, as the tabloids inevitably describe it every summer, ‘Britain’s most dangerous plant’. Many garden favourites – yew, laburnum, castor-oil plant (the source of ricin), for example – can actually kill you. The answer to living with these difficult but beautiful organisms isn’t knee-jerk eradication, but learning what they are and how they live… and then keeping a respectful distance.
Back in the early 1970s, meandering round the wastelands near Heathrow, I came across a giant hogweed wrapped round with ‘Keep Out’ tape. I wasn’t sure if it was a genuine security warning, or a jokey art installation. This was the time when the hogweed’s toxic qualities were first noticed and the press had jumped at the opportunity for hyperbole. An increasing number of children were being admitted to A&E with nasty weals and blisters on their faces.
The source of the problem was tracked down to an umbelliferous plant whose hollow stems children were using as blowpipes and telescopes.
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