PORT ANGELES — Giant hogweed. Its name alone ought to tip you off.
It sounds bad enough in English, but its scientific name, Heraculeum mantegazztanum — Hercules’ shield — suggests that this is no plant to fool with.
The fact that it’s the subject of a 1970s rock song that sounds like the plot of a ’50s science fiction flick underscores the peril:
This is one nasty noxious weed.
Import’s sap phototoxic
Once native only to Russia, the plant was imported to the British Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew.
English horticulturists and, eventually, Americans found it pretty. It flowered in platter-size bouquets as high as 15 feet off the ground.
That is, until gardeners got its clear, watery sap on their skin while they were exposed to sunlight.
Then they called it much worse names than hogweed.
Hours or even a day after contact, the sap’s phototoxic reaction produces blistering burns that last for a week and sometimes leave permanent black or purple scars.
The pain can send most sufferers to hospital emergency rooms.
There was no cure for the itching, searing sensation, although antihistamine medications help in some cases.
Washing an exposed area immediately may diminish the effects, but most people don’t know they’ve come in contact with the sap until it’s much too late.
