zelph
06-15-2006, 20:44
HEADS UP!!!
Wild Parsnip can cause some realy nasty blisters. Some of you may have already come in contact with this plant and know of its toxins.
It is common here in the midwest and is considered an invasive weed. Read all you can about this plant and inquire locally to get assistance to see what this plant looks like up-close so you can identify it when out and about.
This is a quote taken from the link below:
Faunal Associations: The nectar of the flowers attracts such common visitors as flies, wasps, beetles, and ants. Wasp visitors include Crabronid wasps, bee wolves, Spider wasps, Vespid wasps, Eumenid wasps, Velvet ants, Cuckoo wasps, Chalcid wasps, Ichneumonid wasps, and Braconid wasps. Less common visitors include short-tongued bees, butterflies, and plant bugs. The caterpillars of the butterfly Papilio polyxenes asterias (Black Swallowtail) feed on the foliage. The foliage of Wild Parsnip is toxic and irritating in the presence of sunlight, particularly when it is in bloom. This is the result of the foliage releasing singleton oxygen, which is chemically highly reactive (to an even greater extent than triplet oxygen, or ozone). Thus, the foliage in this condition can irritate the digestive tracts of herbivores and raise blisters on the skin of humans. The taproots of 1st year plants are edible during the fall.
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/wild_parsnip.htm
Wild Parsnip can cause some realy nasty blisters. Some of you may have already come in contact with this plant and know of its toxins.
It is common here in the midwest and is considered an invasive weed. Read all you can about this plant and inquire locally to get assistance to see what this plant looks like up-close so you can identify it when out and about.
This is a quote taken from the link below:
Faunal Associations: The nectar of the flowers attracts such common visitors as flies, wasps, beetles, and ants. Wasp visitors include Crabronid wasps, bee wolves, Spider wasps, Vespid wasps, Eumenid wasps, Velvet ants, Cuckoo wasps, Chalcid wasps, Ichneumonid wasps, and Braconid wasps. Less common visitors include short-tongued bees, butterflies, and plant bugs. The caterpillars of the butterfly Papilio polyxenes asterias (Black Swallowtail) feed on the foliage. The foliage of Wild Parsnip is toxic and irritating in the presence of sunlight, particularly when it is in bloom. This is the result of the foliage releasing singleton oxygen, which is chemically highly reactive (to an even greater extent than triplet oxygen, or ozone). Thus, the foliage in this condition can irritate the digestive tracts of herbivores and raise blisters on the skin of humans. The taproots of 1st year plants are edible during the fall.
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/wild_parsnip.htm