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Even a tiny trace of sap applied to the eye can
singe the cornea, causing temporary or permanent
blindness, he added. The chemicals in the sap,
furocoumarins, are carcinogenic and teratogenic,
meaning they can cause cancer and birth defects.
Most provinces have not authorized offcial
weed inspectors to destroy the poisonous plant
because it does not impinge on agriculture.
Mr. Muzzi said he only began eradicating the
plant because nobody else would. “It’s not really
my job,” he said. “I just thought, somebody better
take the bull by the horns here, ’cause this stuff is
really dangerous.”
Giant Hogweed is already rampant in parts of
Europe including England, where the rock group
Genesis wrote a 1971 ode to the plant and its “thick
dark warning odour.”
Native to the Caucasus Region and Central
Asia, it was brought to Europe and North America
as a botanical curiosity in the 19th and 20th
centuries and has spread rapidly. It typically grows
on riverbanks, ditches and roadsides.
The risk of infection was so high, Mr. Muzzi
wore a Tyvek suit, protective goggles, rubber
gloves, “the whole nine yards,” to remove it, he
said. “Which is really nice in 35-degree weather.”
Canadian Iris Society Newsletter 29
