# Hogweed , Hemlock and cow parsley..



## Paddy Irish (6 May 2011)

Just some pics as promised
cow parsley






hemlock






hogweed






They all look really similar when in flower , but the leaves are all slightly different , Hemlock is extremely poisonous especially at the roots , howeed will burn sensitive noses and pink skinned horses and should be kept out of reach , cow parsley seems palattable and all horses seem to like a nibble but again gets more unpleasant the nearer the roots..

Dog weed ( Labradorus Muppeticus )- Fairly irritating - especially when dipped in water!


----------



## tallyho! (6 May 2011)

Very useful.. and cute!!!


----------



## cob&onion (6 May 2011)

dog weed


----------



## Steorra (6 May 2011)

Useful - thank you


----------



## pricklyflower (6 May 2011)

Very good post, thank you!


----------



## wellsat (6 May 2011)

Where I grew up hogweed was really common on the banks of the river. I've known people end up in intensive care after getting it on their skin. Go nowhere near.


----------



## Tnavas (6 May 2011)

Difference between Cow Parsley & Hemlock
Stems of hemlock leaves have no hairs and also often have a purplish tinge.


----------



## Paddy Irish (7 May 2011)

Most of the hemlock here grows in the water and on the banks , ours hasn't got purple on the stalks so I think its the hemlock water drop-wort variety , sometimes known as cowbane - all horrible stuff either way. We logged up a tree over easter that had fallen across the river and OH touched some of this stuff and his fingers swelled a treat!


----------



## Natch (7 May 2011)

Blimey! So if any is found in your pasture how do you get rid? Gloves and pulling? Spraying?

I've come across dogweed before. Its blimmin annoying, and stays in the water forever, refusing to be pulled out


----------



## Tnavas (7 May 2011)

Naturally said:



			Blimey! So if any is found in your pasture how do you get rid? Gloves and pulling? Spraying?

I've come across dogweed before. Its blimmin annoying, and stays in the water forever, refusing to be pulled out 

Click to expand...

Oh that easy to get rid of, wave stick in general direction until noticed and then throw in the opposite direction.

Excerpt from a UK Hemlock site http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/hemlock.htm

Description and habitat 

Let us start, then, with a description of what you need to look for. Hemlock can grow to be as much as 6 to 10 ft tall, although more usually it is 3 to 5 feet tall. Like all members of the Umbellferae, its white flowerheads resemble those of parsnips, carrots, angelica and water hemlock, while the bright green leaves are deeply-cut, even feathery and delicate. It has a fleshy, white taproot. All plant parts are poisonous, with the seeds containing the highest concentration of poison. The conium alkaloids are volatile and can even cause toxic reactions when inhaled.

It takes the descriptor maculatum from its most distinctive feature - a deep or dark red, almost port-wine coloured, mottling on the lower half of the stem. This varies somewhat from a regular, neatly spotted effect to one which can leave the lowest part almost entirely red, gradually becoming more spotty further up. In any event, the mottling generally disappears about half way up the stem. The stem is perfectly smooth, unlike most of the other umbelliferae, which have vertically ribbed stems. It has a disagreeable mouse-piss smell which hangs around the plants on a hot day and is extremely pronounced when the leaves are crushed between the hands.


----------



## Natch (7 May 2011)

My dog weed does not come out of water for a stick. My dog weed makes me bleddy well go in after it and evades me for another 45 minutes. My dog weed does not get to go swimming any more!


----------



## stencilface (7 May 2011)

To me, they all look pretty distinctive tbh, leaves are completely different on all three, before you even look at the flowers (as leaves come out before flowers).  Hemlock is generally much bigger than cow parsley, and does generally have the reddish spots on it.

TBH, horses are generally pretty sensible, after all our horses ancestors must have once avoided all these plants and survived, Darwin weeded out the thickies who ate the wrong stuff 

(I know that horses will eat stupid stuff, but as a general rule, they do know whats good and whats not, and are pretty capable of self medicating)


----------



## Pally (7 May 2011)

Thanks for the piccies and info'.

My Dogweed won't go near the water, far to much of a scaredyweed!


----------

