It usually is flowering by the end of May and maturing its seeds in July. April is the prime month for control, Tungesvick said. The same goes for management efforts that don’t involve chemicals, such as digging up the poison hemlock. ![]() Those should be applied in the early months before the plant flowers. ![]() There are several common and effective herbicides that can be used on the plant, Shaver said. Timing is everything, Tungesvick said - and the best time for management efforts is in the spring. ![]() First, and most importantly, is to make sure you are wearing protective gear - such as gloves, goggles and long sleeves - before working to control it. But during the second year, it sends up a flowering stem that can grow as tall as 4-6 feet - and some even taller.īut if you find it in one of your own flower beds or a shared neighborhood space, there are ways you can remove it yourself. In its first year, it puts out a clump of lacy-looking leaves that grow close to the ground. But there are ways to distinguish poison hemlock that are unique only to it. This mistaken identity is the main way people are exposed or accidentally poisoned. Its seeds look similar to those of anise and its roots resemble parsnip roots. Its leaves are easy to confuse with parsley. Poison hemlock is part of the parsley and carrot family. Poison hemlock can be mixed with harmless plants in pastures and crops where livestock may eat it, or in a garden where a dog may munch on the plant. “None of this should enter your body,” Slack said. Still, even small amounts can have serious effects. Symptoms can show as early as just 30 minutes after ingesting it, and the severity of the poisoning depends on how much was ingested and the concentration of the hemlock was at the time. Other signs of poisoning can include trembling, salivation, pupil dilation, muscle paralysis and loss of speech. All plant parts contain toxic alkaloids that can interfere with nerve transmissions to your muscles, ultimately causing respiratory failure. Hemlock poisoning can be fatal with no antidote. These 5 poisonous plants are too.īut while the sap can prove dangerous, the true threat is if any part of the plant - stalk and stems, leaves, flowers, seeds or roots - were to be ingested. Poison hemlock: It's invading Indiana and it's not alone. Those seeds are easily scattered during late summer mowing, Shaver said. Each plant produces a lot of seeds - up to 30,000 - that ripen between late June and August after it flowers. This is the time of year that poison hemlock spreads and grows its footprint. “It is not a plant you want around your home or in your local park.” ![]() “That movement is a bit scary to me because this plant is very toxic and it’s more of an opportunity for kids to play with it and pets to eat it,” said Dan Shaver with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. In just the last year, however, this plant has migrated in a way that has experts particularly concerned: It’s showing up in parks, flower beds and backyard gardens in urban areas. Poison hemlock, which resembles Queen Anne’s Lace, can be spotted in highway right-of-ways, along fences and on the edges of farm fields. A toxic invasive species that can prove deadly burst onto the scene in Indiana about 5 years ago.
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