It's Definitely Not Wild Parsnips (Poison Hemlock)

Mistwalker

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There are a few members of the Apiaceae, or Umbellifer, carrot, or celery family of plants that grow here in the Tennessee River Valley; Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrots), Wild Parsnips, and Poison Hemlock.

The seeds of the safest of which I know of, Queen Anne's Lace, are toxic enough that they have been used as an abortifacient in Europe for any years.

Though the roots of wild parsnips are edible, the sap from them on human skin and sunshine can mix very painfully, with a reaction known as phytophotodermatitis because of a substance called Furanocoumarin, which causes our skin to be extra sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light. When the sap from the leaves and stems of these plants gets on our skin, and our skin is then exposed to sunlight, an inflammatory reaction takes place. The same reaction can be cause by other membersof the carrot family including carrots

The roots and seeds of the most toxic of them, poison hemlock, are especially deadly if ingested and it has no known antidotes. In fact this plant is so deadly the dried stalks are still deadly for 3 years after they die.

I've recently seen one "brand" of the "AI image search" label some of these same images of this same plant as " most likely wild parsnips

This is NOT Wild Parsnips, but with them both being in the carrot plant family they have very similar leaves. It is Poison Hemlock. It is deadly to ingest, and very dangerous even to handle. In my opinion there isn't enough nutrition in either of these plants in the carrot family to make any of them worth taking the risks involved, and if it has carrot leaves, I feel the safest approach is to just leave it alone.

This is a patch of Hemlock
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This is an outlying single plant
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You can see the carrot leaf structure
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As the Hemlock stems mature the lower stalks turn a pale, sort of ghoulish, blueish-greenish-purple sort of color with maroon and deep purple splotches.
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And then they bud and bloom
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I see more bee flies than bees on the hemlock flowers, which brings to mind thoughts of corrupted flesh when I'm photographing them.
EMK_Hemlock_14-vi.jpg



The hemlock tends to grow in disturbed soil. The roots, which have a pretty distinctive look and are very dangerous, can get intwined with other plants and be difficult to pull up. If you find it on your land and mess with it, be sure to wear proper protective equipment.
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The seeds, which go from green to golden brown to tiny and black after drying in the sun, and are one of the most toxic parts of the plant, can pose the most danger to children, who watching the plants blow and rattle in the wind could get the seeds in the mouths.
EMK_Hemlock_17-vi.jpg


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Be careful what apps you trust your life to, the AI is yet to be proven friendly... ;)



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There is a lot of poison hemlock established all over California. I have seen it here in the San Joaquin valley. Once I saw a large patch of it in the Coyote Hills Regional Park in the Bay Area. That patch was right next to a trail where I saw many families with small children walking. Since you can be poisoned through skin contact I felt that it was irresponsible to leave this large patch just a few feet from where so many kids were playing.
 
Great post! We have lots of this stuff around here too, and it is spreading rapidly!
It does spread rapidly, I've noticed that from the areas I've studied.

There is a lot of poison hemlock established all over California. I have seen it here in the San Joaquin valley. Once I saw a large patch of it in the Coyote Hills Regional Park in the Bay Area. That patch was right next to a trail where I saw many families with small children walking. Since you can be poisoned through skin contact I felt that it was irresponsible to leave this large patch just a few feet from where so many kids were playing.
I'm dealing with a similar situation here with there being quite a bit in a local park around some of the features. I've been telling people about it for some time, trying to send word up the chain of command. Tonight I'm emailing someone higher up the chain in hopes of figuring out how to address the issue. I too feel it's very irresponsible to have such a dangerous plant around with the children playing there. I sure someone in the parks dept agrees, I just have to find that person.
 
I meant to post this back in the summer, but I finally found the right person and they removed the poison hemlock from the park, and made it safer for the children playing there
 
At least you finally found a sane person.
Yes, very thankful for that.

The City Parks Dept is responisible for that park, and I knew that. But after telling multiple people in the City Dept. with no luck, it took befriending the mahager of the County Parks Dept. by chance meeting at the outfitter I work for, or perhaps more by God's design, to get me in touch with the very specific individual who is responsible for that specific park to get anywhere. Isent her some of the same hi-rez images above, and then some that showed exactly which park and where in it they were, in April this year around the same time I posted this thread. I never heard back from her, but when I went back to the park in June the Hemlock was gone.
 
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