I was going thru my photo inventory and found some plants which I'm uncertain of ... some wild others cultivated
Heracleum maximum Frangula purshiana Circaea alpina for the first three. The fourth is in Convolvulaceae, the fifth looks like a hybrid Mahonia.
Hi! Regarding your first photo (with white flowers). Just a heads-up. Please await confirmation from the green thumbs or experts. It looks like hogweed - an invasive plant known to give third-degree burns - effects being quite drastic. So you may wish to avoid contact until someone has confirmed this plant for you. There is an article which a weed science specialist describes the plant's characteristic at: What Is Hogweed? This Invasive Flower Gives You Third-Degree Burns Please take care.
Heracleum maximum can cause a similar reaction in some people, but rarely so severe as giant hogweed. It would still be advisable to wear long pants and avoid contact in areas of sensitive skin (e.g., around your eyes), though I know it can often be found alongside paths and people in shorts brush against it all the time (not me, though, I try to weave around it if I can). At the stage of flowering as shown in the pic, giant hogweed is indeed giant. I don't think @bpither is 3+ meters tall, as he would have to be to get a photo of giant hogweed from that angle. Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but even at its smallest, giant hogweed is pretty big. Another thing you can look for (and is evident in the photo) is whether the base of the fruit is narrowed to a point (as it is in H. maximum) or has a softer bottom edge like in giant hogweed. Lastly, one has to be pretty unfortunate to encounter giant hogweed -- infestations are generally dealt with quickly by municipal or parks staff.
Just checked out the differences: Cow Parsnip: 1 to 2.5 metres tall; stem 2.5 to 5cm in diameter; palmate shaped, compound leaves (similar to maple leaf), divided into 3 segments Giant Hogweed: 3 to 5 metres tall; stem is 3 to 10 cm in diameter; compound leaves (single leaves with lobes that look like a hand and fingers), deeply incised.
Illustrated Flora of BC's numbers on height has some overlap -- but yes, that speaks to the giant nature.
I did see it once near the seawall approach to Stanley Park at Coal Harbour. I reported it, and they did deal with it quickly.
Just thought I would show how giant hogweed is spreading in my county in England. Map shows where toxic burn and blind-causing plant is growing in Hampshire Once it starts it does spread very quickly if not dealt with promptly.
I always look at the leaves first, with those of giant hogweed being larger and more divided. Also the leaf sizes taper more evenly with cow parsnip, so that ones fairly high up on the stems aren't terribly smaller than those at the very bottom. Whereas with giant hogweed there is a basal clump of jumbo leaves with flower stalks having much reduced leaves immediately above.
For a comparison here are some photos of what I took to be Giant Hogweed, basal leaves only. I reported it, and the leaves died slowly over the summer with no flower stalk. I don't know if the plant was treated or if it is biennual, because it has appeared again this year.
Probably this hogweed hasn't gotten big enough to bloom yet. When plants that die after flowering take more than two years to get to the flowering stage these are called monocarpic.
are all these pictures in one place out in nature eg a park or trail where is general location i very much agree w info about giant hogweed
All photos taken near where we live in White Rock, BC 1) Mud Bay, Surrey, BC ... near parking lot for 18 km dyke walk to Tsawwassen 2) Campbell Valley Regional Park ... trail half way between Nature House and parking lot on 16th Avenue if that's any help 3) Semiahmoo Trail in South Surrey near exit on to Crescent Road 4) Don't Know 5) Semiahmoo Trail at 24th Avenue - planted at new housing development. PS. Our profile photo taken at a Vancouver Canucks (Hockey) Game during a winning game.
re: photo #4 Morning glory aka bindweed If this was in my garden or local park - I’d not want it. And it’s a beast to eradicate —- a tiny bit of « root » left under soil will usually sprout a whole new tangle the next year If you ever pull it out - it likely has to be burned or I suppose put in garbage. I don’t know if green waste accepts it I thought this is interesting - link below - it twines from right to left — indeed, a conversation starter at a soon-to-be-legal gathering :) Invasive Plant - Hedge bindweed - Forest Practices Branch - Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations - Province of British Columbia
You can see in @bpither 's photo that the stem is winding counter-clockwise. Saying 'right to left' is ambiguous because a stem can grow either clockwise or counter clockwise from a right to left beginning.
See? We’re not even at a dinner party and this already gets a conversation going :) Yes - in all seriousness, I almost went out to the lane ditch to observe our neighborhood bindweed. I don’t really understand the government PDF reference to « right to left »
Yes, I am beginning to understand your comment that a discussion about bindweed (morning glory) is bound to be contentious, @Georgia Strait. Here's a partial sentence in @Ron B 's link: March brings eager new shoots above ground, rubbery, skinny stems twisting clockwise . . . I enjoyed reading Arthur Lee Jacobson's passionate description of this 'grasping parasite' - small detail to him which way it twined.
