Possible Hogweed? - Ask Extension
Just requesting some professional identification of what my wife thinks is Giant Hogweed. These images are of a smaller plant growing next to our driv...
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Possible Hogweed? #847963
Asked August 30, 2023, 5:16 PM EDT
Just requesting some professional identification of what my wife thinks is Giant Hogweed. These images are of a smaller plant growing next to our driveway and there's a much larger plant growing out of a planter in front of the driveway of all places. The larger one is probably 7ft tall minus the planter.
These plants weren't present when we purchased the house in Apr. of '22 and moved in July that year.
Anne Arundel County Maryland
Expert Response
Fortunately no, this is not Giant Hogweed; both the foliage and flowers are very different between that species and this one. This looks like American Burnweed, a native summer annual species that is a very common weed in gardens. Annual plants live for only one growing season, in this case germinating in spring and reaching maturity (and flowering and producing seed) by late summer or fall, and dying that winter. It should be easy to pull up if you wish to remove it. While it will die on its own by the time we start having overnight freezes even if left alone, it will have produced and dispersed seed by then, which can greatly increase how many seedlings appear in your yard or a neighbor's next year.
Miri
Miri
