If Hollywood wanted to make a movie about a horrifying plant invasion, giant hogweeds would make a great candidate for the lead role - they are absolutely massive, incredibly toxic, and readily spread wherever their seeds take root. 
 
 Listed as a noxious weed in at least eight states, last week the giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) was spotted in Virginia for the first time. 
 
 According to reports from the Massey Herbarium at Virginia Tech university, about 30 of these towering plants have been found in Clarke County, and locals are warned to keep an eye out for sightings. 
 
 Today I helped ID VA's first giant hogweed population! Its sap causes severe burns. One plant was found in Clarke County. Report sightings to your extension agent! ID help: https://t.co/VMkYqyaccB Thanks to @herbariumkeeper and @VTAgWeeds for ID help and report! pic.twitter.com/4BM9RhyMem — VT Massey Herbarium (@MasseyHerbarium) June 12, 2018 
 
 Native to the Caucasus region, the statuesque plant looks like a huge mutant version of the benign common hogweed - but it can cause severe skin burns if you so much as brush against the bristles on its stalks. 
 
 Those bristles, along with the rest of the plant, emit a nasty sap that chemically irritates the skin causing phototoxicity - severe damage to the skin through exposure to sunlight and UV rays. 
 
 As a result, one can get huge, oozing blisters that can leave behind scars and photosensitivity for many years (you can see some NSFW photos of giant hogweed-caused blisters here.) 
 
 But unless you're familiar with its nasty secret, you might think the giant hogweed looks cool - these large plants can grow more than 4 metres (14 feet) tall, spreading their huge leaves and producing massive umbrella-shaped clusters of white flowers. 
 
 After Britain first made the mistake in the 19th century, as an "ornamental" garden plant it was also introduced to North America just a few decades later, and since then it's been a battle to stop the flowering monster's march across the continent. 
 
 Hogweed warning sign in Ontario, Canada (Gavin Edmonstone/Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0) 
 
 Once you have an infestation, it takes a lot of work to control the giant hogweed to prevent its spread, as its seeds - each plant can shed thousands - remain viable in the soil for several years. 
 
 "In some cases, a giant hogweed infestation is best controlled using several different methods in combination or in succession - in other words, a two, three, or even four-pronged attack plan," explains the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC). 
 
 Those methods involve cutting the plant roots, removing seed heads, mowing them down when they're still small, and even dosing the whole thing with herbicide. Of course, going anywhere near a giant hogweed requires protective gear. 
 
 Weirdly enough, H. mantegazzianum isn't even the only horror weed that's come to plague the world from its Caucasus origins. 
 
 The closely related H. sosnowskyi species, discovered in Georgia in the 1930s, was brought into the Soviet Union for growing as cattle feed. These days, it is by far the scariest plant you could find in the Baltic States and Poland, where it's considered highly invasive. 
 
 It's easy to imagine that one day far in the future, when humans are all dead, whole swathes of our planet could be overgrown with this incredibly toxic, fast-growing plant. Movie writers, you're welcome. 
 
 To learn about the identification of giant hogweed and compare it to common look-alikes, check out the NYDEC site here. ||||| Officials in Virginia are warning residents to be on the lookout after an invasive plant was found Tuesday in the northern part of the state that can cause third-degree burns and even permanent blindness. 
 
 The Massey Herbarium at Virginia Tech said in a Facebook post that 30 giant hogweed plants were discovered in Clarke County, located between Winchester and Leesburg. 
 
 The plant contains a very toxic sap, that when combined with sun exposure, can cause severe health hazards. 
 
 "In brief, the sap prevents your skin from protecting itself from sunlight, which leads to a very bad sunburn," according to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. "Heat and moisture (sweat or dew) can worsen the skin reaction. The phototoxic reaction can begin as soon as 15 minutes after contact, with sensitivity peak between 30 minutes and two hours after contact." 
 
 The sap can cause painful blisters that can form and become "dark and pigmented," and scars that can last up to six years, according to the NYDEC. 
 
 WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS BELOW 
 
 If the sap gets into the eye, it can even lead to blindness. 
 
 Environmental officials in Virginia said that while there has just been one confirmed case in Clarke County, they are warning residents in other parts of the state to stay alert for potential sightings. 
 
 "There have been reports from VDOT of sightings of Giant Hogweed in the Staunton area and Middlesex County," Isle of Wight County posted to Facebook. "There is a strong possibility that the Giant Hogweed could find its way into the Tidewater/Coastal Virginia area." 
 
 Besides being a threat to humans, giant hogweed can also impact the environment. The plant can grow up to up to 14 feet, creating a lot of shade in the area and inhibiting the growth of native species. The plants have hollow stems that are generally 2 to 4 inches in diameter, with dark purple and red raised spots and bristle-like hairs. 
 
 Environmental officials say that if you want to remove the plant, do not use a weed-whacker, because the plant's sap can splatter and then spread quickly. Eradication should be done by physical removal or using herbicides such as glyphosate or triclopyr, according to the NYDEC. 
 
 "It may be possible for hogweed seeds to remain viable in the soil for 15 years," the agency said. "For this reason, long-term monitoring is very important. Check the site and surrounding areas for the next several years for the emergence of any hogweed seedlings or regrowth from previous year's plants." ||||| Skip to main navigation 
 
 Health Hazards & Safety Instructions for Giant Hogweed (with graphic photos) 
 
 When giant hogweed (GH) sap, which contains photosensitizing furanocoumarins, contacts human skin in conjunction with sunlight, it can cause phytophotodermatitis - a serious skin inflammation. In brief, the sap prevents your skin from protecting itself from sunlight which leads to a very bad sunburn. Heat and moisture (sweat or dew) can worsen the skin reaction. The phototoxic reaction can begin as soon as 15 minutes after contact, with sensitivity peak between 30 minutes and two hours after contact. 
 
 Photo of giant hogweed burn - 5 days to 5 months after initial exposure Photo credit: Bob Kleinberg 
 
 What are the symptoms of exposure to giant hogweed sap? 
 
 Painful blisters that form within 48 hours and become dark and pigmented 
 
 Scars that last up to six years, though typically only last a few months 
 
 Long-term sensitivity to sunlight is common 
 
 Blindness may occur if the sap gets into the eye 
 
 Where is the toxic sap located? 
 
 Sap can be located in all parts of the plant but the following have higher concentrations: the lower part of the hollow stems and petioles; the hollow hairs on the plant; the foliage, stem, flower, or fruit (seed). 
 
 Safety precautions to follow when controlling giant hogweed plants: 
 
 Refer to the How to Control GH webpage which includes a detailed guide 
 
 Do not touch the plant with bare skin 
 
 Do not touch your bare skin with sap covered gloves 
 
 Prevent UV sunlight from reaching skin by: 
 
 wearing long waterproof gloves, long sleeves, pants, boots, and eye protection; synthetic water-resistant materials are best since cotton and linen fibers can soak up the plant sap and be penetrated by plant hairs If controlling plants with multiple people, keep a good distance from one another as the sap can splash three to four feet Apply sun block before beginning to work 
 
 Launder clothes that may have contacted plants 
 
 Wash equipment with water immediately after use 
 
 Limit exposure to sunlight after control OR work around giant hogweed plants after sunset 
 
 DO NOT use a "weed-whacker" or brush cutter - sap may splatter as stems are cut 
 
 Keep water, soap, and eye-wash near work area in case of exposure 
 
 What should you do if you are exposed to giant hogweed sap? 
 
 Wash the affected area thoroughly with soap and COLD water as soon as possible 
 
 Keep exposed area away from sunlight for 48 hours 
 
 If a reaction occurs, topical steroids applied early can reduce the severity of the reaction and ease discomfort 
 
 If sap goes in eyes, rinse them with water and wear sunglasses 
 
 If a reaction has occurred, the area of skin may be sensitive to sunlight for a few years and you may want to apply sun block or keep the affected area covered from the sun when possible 
 
 See a physician if you have a reaction or any questions ||||| The giant hogweed plant (Photo: Michigan State University Extension) 
 
 If you’re planning on walking through the west Michigan wilderness, you might want to pack your Roundup. 
 
 The Calhoun County Public Health Department has found the dangerous giant hogweed plant near Battle Creek and is urging people to be careful. 
 
 The plant, which was found in Pennfield Township, was removed — but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others. The site will be monitored by township and county officials for several years. 
 
 Even though it’s a member of the carrot family, the hogweed plant is one of Mother Nature’s nastier creations. The sap on its leaves, roots, flower heads, seeds and stem hairs can cause blistering and scars if they touch bare skin. And if it gets in your eyes, it can cause permanent blindness. Adding to the horror factor: If you came into contact with the plant, you might not know it because it can take up to 48 hours for the reaction to occur. 
 
 “Giant Hogweed is a public health hazard that ranks up there higher than poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac in respect to its potential to harm humans,” the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development says on its website. 
 
 The Hogweed — or Heracleum mantegazzianum, for you botanists — is not native to the Great Lakes State, having been introduced here from Central Asia in the 1900s to display in arboretums and gardens. The State of Michigan adopted a search-and-destroy policy toward the plant in 1998 to help keep it from spreading. It is also on the federal noxious weed list, making it illegal to sell or transport it across state lines. 
 
 The biennial plant can grow 6-12 feet high and flowers from late spring to mid-summer. It has dark red or purple spots and bristles on a green stem, and a white flower that looks like Queen Anne’s lace. 
 
 The plant “can be difficult for the outdoor enthusiast to identify,” the Michigan State University Extension website says, but “with very limited distribution in Michigan, a vigorous tramp through the woods or wetlands is not likely to expose anyone to hogweed.” 
 
 If anyone comes into contact with one, health officials advise you to wash the skin in soapy water and to immediately flush your eyes with water. You’ll also want to seek out medical attention right away. 
 
 If you think you have found one of the plants, send photos to Michigan State University via e-mail at pestid@msu.edu, or call MDARD at 800-292-3939. 
 
 The Battle Creek Enquirer contributed to this report. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/1SDTHQv ||||| Giant Hogweed Overview 
 
 Giant Hogweed Plant 
 
 Terry English, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org Giant Hogweed Leaf 
 
 Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org 
 
 Giant Hogweed Stem 
 
 Rob Routledge, Sault College, Bugwood.org Giant Hogweed Flower 
 
 Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org 
 
 Man with Giant Hogweed 
 
 Terry English, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org Giant Hogweed Flower with Pen 
 
 USDA APHIS PPQ - Oxford, North Carolina, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org 
 
 
 
 Giant Hogweed was introduced into North America in the early 1900s. Its native range is Central Asia, although now it occurs throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, Europe, parts of Canada and the United States. It is suspected to have made its way into this country as an ornamental. Its size made it somewhat of an oddity and gardeners that wanted something unique imported it. 
 
 Giant Hogweed is a public health hazard that ranks up there higher than poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac in respect to its potential to harm humans. The reason for concern is that the sap from this plant can cause a severe skin reaction known as photo-dermatitis or photo-sensitivity. The reaction can happen up to 48 hours after contact. After coming in contact with the sap, the skin blisters when exposed to sunlight. Contact with the eyes can lead to temporary or possibly permanent blindness. The weed can be especially troublesome for children that may find the long stems attractive to play with. If you do come into contact with the plant, and especially the sap, you are advised to wash the affected areas immediately, keep the exposed area out of direct sunlight and seek medical advice. 
 
 Besides these public health concerns, Giant Hogweed is also reported to be invasive under certain conditions. It does especially well in disturbed soils and also along waterways where seeds can be spread long distances. Large colonies have been known to form from a single plant, where an abundance of seeds coupled with shoots arising from the roots gives rise to dozens of offspring. Weed specialists have reported that once it becomes established, it takes up to five years to completely eradicate a colony due to regrowth from seeds and roots. 
 
 This unwanted plant is found on the Federal Noxious weed list. This means that it is illegal to sell or transport it across state lines, a violation punishable by fines. 
 
 Giant hogweed has already been detected in many counties across Michigan. Funding to support the detection, identification, or control of Giant Hogweed is no longer available to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD). Active management of Giant Hogweed on the sites where it is known to occur in Michigan is the responsibility of the proper owner/manager. 
 
 How Do You Know If It's Really Giant Hogweed? Proper identification is an important first step. A number of common plant species resemble Giant Hogweed, but there are ways to tell them from the real thing. Only approximately 2% of suspect plants submitted to MDARD for identification are confirmed as Giant Hogweed. 
 
 Here are a few guides you may find useful. (Please review the material in the guides before contacting MDARD about suspect Giant Hogweed): 
 
 If you have seen a plant that appears to be Giant Hogweed and need help identifying it, send an email to MDA-Info@Michigan.gov, along with any pictures, so that it can be examined by professional staff of MDARD. (Please e-mail four pictures: 1. Whole plant, 2. Leaf, 3. Flower/seed head, 4. Where a leaf joins the stem.) Please note: The maximum size of your email cannot exceed 25 MB. ||||| A 17-year-old Virginia boy is recovering after a giant hogweed plant left him with second- and third-degree burns to his face and arms. 
 
 Alex Childress was working at his summer landscaping job on Tuesday in Fredericksburg around 12 p.m. when he unknowingly chopped down a large hogweed, a dangerous plant with sap that can cause severe damage to the skin, according to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. 
 
 Get push notifications with news, features, and more. 
 
 Childress, of Spotsylvania County, says the plant fell onto his face, but he thought nothing of the incident and carried the cut weed away under his right arm to throw it away. That night, however, Childress says he knew something was wrong when he took a shower. 
 
 “I thought I just had sunburn, so I didn’t really pay any attention. Then I got in the shower and I started rubbing my face,” he recalls. “I thought it was just a little bit of skin at first, but then big chunks of my face were falling off.” 
 
 GO FUND ME 
 
 He showed his mother, a nurse at Richmond’s Virginia Commonwealth University, and she showed Childress a photo of a hogweed, asking if it had looked like the plant he cut down. Childress confirmed, and his mother, Christy, rushed him to Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center where doctors advised that he go to VCU’s burn center. 
 
 “It felt like wind-burn, like my skin was chapped,” he tells PEOPLE. “[Doctors] had me stand in the shower for an hour and a half, scrubbing my body with soap to bring the PH level down. I had hot water running over open wounds, that was probably the worst part. That or the burn treatment where they scraped off the dead skin.” 
 
 The noxious weed first appeared in the U.S. in 1917, according to TIME. When mixed with moisture and sunlight, its sap can cause severe skin and eye irritation including blindness, permanent scarring and painful blistering, according to the Department. 
 
 Hogweed plant Getty Images 
 
 Childress remained in the intensive care unit for two days before he returned home with ointments and instructions to care for his peeling, blistering skin. 
 
 “I have to change the bandages every day,” he says. “It’s painful. Every time I take the bandage off there’s drainage. My arm is bleeding because the skin is trying to heal. It’s more than half my face and from my wrist up to the top of my bicep on my right arm.” 
 
 He adds: “I can’t go out into the sun for anywhere from two to six months. My face could be sensitive to light for a year up to two years.” 
 
 Childress says the ordeal has put his life on pause. He says his scholarship to Virginia Tech’s Army ROTC is now in jeopardy due to medical disqualifications. His family started a GoFundMe page to cover medical expenses and cover college costs. 
 
 “I worked hard to get the scholarship,” he says. “When my face heals, I have to go through a whole medical waiver process to make sure they won’t pull my scholarship. It’s a possibility I won’t be able to [attend in the fall], so that’s been a real struggle for my family.” 
 
 Still, Childress is hopeful about his future, and says he’s speaking out about the ordeal to warn others about the harmful plant. 
 
 “I don’t want to go through this again. I’d like to bring awareness to everyone else so it doesn’t happen to other people.” ||||| A Vermont woman stumbled into wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) and created the perfect conditions for the plant to give her agonizing second-degree burns. 
 
 When Charlotte Murphy slid into some brush while walking along a road in Vermont, she stood back up, brushed herself off and continued on her way. But her stumble came back to haunt her days later, in the form of several excruciating second-degree burns. 
 
 Murphy, 21, had stumbled into a wild parsnip plant (Pastinaca sativa). The weed, also known as poison parsnip and hobo pasnip, is a wild version of the root vegetable that resembles a carrot. But while the cream-colored roots are edible, the plant's sap is treacherous. [Naughty by Nature: The Most Disgusting and Deadly Flowers] 
 
 Wild parsnip can grow to more than 60 inches (150 centimeters) tall and sprouts several small yellow flowers that grow in umbrella-shaped groups, each about 2 inches (5 cm) across, according to biologists at Pennsylania State University. Just like hogweed, another similar-looking weed that's found on the side of the road, wild parsnip sap contains furanocoumarins, which are compounds that cause severe burns. 
 
 "The sap is toxic and basically strips the body's ability to control the UV radiations from sunlight," Joellen Lampman, an educator with the New York State Integrated Pest Management program at Cornell University, previously told Live Science. 
 
 Large, painful blisters formed on Charlotte Murphy's leg two days after she stumbled into the wild parsnip plant. Credit: Courtesy of Charlotte Murphy 
 
 Murphy posted graphic photos of her burn blisters on Facebook, and wrote that she hopes "to create greater awareness for what wild parsnip is … and the terrible things the OIL from its stem, leaves, and blooms can to do the skin."Sunlight activates the compounds in the oil and leads to what is essentially an extreme sunburn, which can worsen with moisture and heat, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. That was key to producing Murphy's astonishing burns. After her stumble, Murphy spent several more hours in the hot sun, sweating. 
 
 Murphy eventually sought treatment at the University of Vermont's Trauma and Burn Center, and is expected to make a full recovery — though she may sustain permanent scarring, Fox News reported. 
 
 Original article on Live Science.
– What ScienceAlert calls a "giant horror plant" has made its way to yet another US state, and people who come in contact with it could feel the pain. Virginia Tech's Massey Herbarium tweeted last week it had IDed a giant hogweed (aka Heracleum mantegazzianum) plant in Clarke County, later updating that count on Facebook to 30 plants. The plant holds what Fox News deems a "toxic sap," which prevents human skin from protecting itself from the sun's rays, leading to severe burns that can be worsened by sweat. New York state's Department of Environmental Conservation lists other hazards that can result from coming in contact with the plant (as well as some photos of terrible burns), including long-term sunlight sensitivity, oozing blisters, scarring, and even permanent blindness if the sap makes its way into one's eyes. And it doesn't take a lot to fall prey to the poison of the giant hogweed, which resembles an umbrella or mushroom made up of white flowers: A simple brush up against its bristles can spur a reaction as soon as 15 minutes later, with "sensitivity peak between 30 minutes and two hours after contact," per the DEC. It's difficult to stop the spreading of the invasive plant, which is native to the Caucasus region near Russia and was introduced to the US sometime in the early 20th century. Virginia environmental officials are warning the plant may have been spotted in other parts of the state and for people who come across it to not let their bare skin make contact. It also offers a guide for very carefully getting rid of the plant. (Giant hogweed has been found in at least a dozen other states.)