Heracleum Mantegazzianum - Description

Description

Giant hogweed has a stout, dark reddish-purple stem and spotted leaf stalks that are hollow and produce sturdy bristles. Stems vary from 3–8 cm (1.2–3.1 in) in diameter, occasionally up to 10 cm (3.9 in). The stem shows a purplish-red pigmentation with raised nodules. Each purple spot on the stem surrounds a hair, and large, coarse white hairs occur at the base of the leaf stalk. The plant has deeply incised compound leaves which grow up to 1–1.7 m (3 ft 3 in–5 ft 7 in) in width.

Giant hogweed is a short-lived perennial (lasting typically between five and seven years), with tuberous rootstalks that form perennating buds each year. It flowers in its final year from late spring to mid summer, with numerous white flowers clustered in an umbrella-shaped head that is up to 80 cm (31 in) in diameter across its flat top. The plant produces 1,500 to 100,000 flattened, 1 cm long, oval dry seeds that have a broadly rounded base and broad marginal ridges. After seeds have set, the individual plant dies. Plants in earlier stages of growth die down in the autumn. Tall dead stems may mark its locations during winter.

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