Giant Hogweed Look-a-Likes
Several plants including cow parsnip, angelica, Queen Anne's lace and poison hemlock, are often confused with giant hogweed. Use the pictures below to help identify giant hogweed and its look-a-likes.
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Giant Hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum
Cow Parsnip, Heracleum maximum
Plant |
Leaf |
Stem |
Flower |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Plants are 5 to 8 feet tall, can cause a blistery rash in sensitive individuals |
Leaves are 2 to 2 1/2 feet and covered in soft hairs that may give a velvety appearance |
Deeply ridged stems maybe green or slightly purple and 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Hairs are fine, soft and fuzzy |
Flowers several weeks before giant hogweed. Flower clusters are also smaller |
Angelica, Angelica atropurpurea
Plant |
Leaf |
Stem |
Flower |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Rarely reaches 8 feet tall |
Compound leaves can reach 2 feet wide and have dozen of small leaflets |
Waxy green to purple, smooth, hollow stems |
Softball size clusters of white or greenish white flowers, less then 1 foot in diameter |
Queen-Anne's Lace, Daucus carota
Plant |
Leaf |
Stem |
Flower |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Plants are 1 to 4 feet tall |
Lacy, fern-like leaves |
Slender, hairy, hollow, green stems |
Small white flowers in a flat cluster 3 to 4 inches wide from May to October |
Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum
Plant |
Leaf |
Stem |
Flower |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Plants are 4 to 9 feet tall |
Bright green fern-like leaves, maybe glossy |
Smooth, waxy stems with purple blotches |
Small white flowers in numerous flat tpped clusters on all branches |
Poison hemlock plant, Pedro Tenorio-Lezama
Poison hemlock leaf and flowers, John Cardina, Ohio State University
