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Incoming Va. Tech freshman spends 2 nights in VCU burn unit after run-in with giant hogweed plant
Incoming Va. Tech freshman spends 2 nights in VCU burn unit after run-in with giant hogweed plant
By TIM DODSON Richmond Times-Dispatch 13 hrs ago
Alex Childress, 17, was working at his summer landscaping job Tuesday in the Fredericksburg area, trying to make some money as he prepares for his freshman year at Virginia Tech this fall. ... He came across what he thought was a large weed and took a pair of loppers to chop it down. The plant briefly brushed across his face and arm, and he picked the plant up to discard it in the woods.
Later that day, Alex’s father, Justin Childress, returned home from Alex’s younger brother’s baseball game. ... “I walked inside and Alex, he was like, ‘I got really bad sunburn,’” Justin Childress said in a phone interview Thursday. “And Alex doesn’t burn. He tans.”
“The top layer of skin on the left side of his face basically was gone and appeared to be like a really bad burn that had already peeled,” he added. ... The family would soon learn that Alex had suffered second- and third-degree burns to his face and left arm as a result of coming into contact with a plant known as giant hogweed.
....
Officials across Virginia have sent potential giant hogweed samples to the Massey Herbarium for identification since June. So far, three plants from Clarke, Rockingham and Fauquier counties have been confirmed through samples, Metzgar said. A fourth instance of the plant was photographed in Alexandria.
....
tdodson@timesdispatch.com
(804) 649-6556
Information from The Free Lance-Star was used in this report.
By TIM DODSON Richmond Times-Dispatch 13 hrs ago
Alex Childress, 17, was working at his summer landscaping job Tuesday in the Fredericksburg area, trying to make some money as he prepares for his freshman year at Virginia Tech this fall. ... He came across what he thought was a large weed and took a pair of loppers to chop it down. The plant briefly brushed across his face and arm, and he picked the plant up to discard it in the woods.
Later that day, Alex’s father, Justin Childress, returned home from Alex’s younger brother’s baseball game. ... “I walked inside and Alex, he was like, ‘I got really bad sunburn,’” Justin Childress said in a phone interview Thursday. “And Alex doesn’t burn. He tans.”
“The top layer of skin on the left side of his face basically was gone and appeared to be like a really bad burn that had already peeled,” he added. ... The family would soon learn that Alex had suffered second- and third-degree burns to his face and left arm as a result of coming into contact with a plant known as giant hogweed.
....
Officials across Virginia have sent potential giant hogweed samples to the Massey Herbarium for identification since June. So far, three plants from Clarke, Rockingham and Fauquier counties have been confirmed through samples, Metzgar said. A fourth instance of the plant was photographed in Alexandria.
....
tdodson@timesdispatch.com
(804) 649-6556
Information from The Free Lance-Star was used in this report.
'Don't touch it': Invasive plant with sap that can cause blindness is found in Virginia
By JUSTIN WM. MOYER The Washington Post Jun 21, 2018
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Farkin BIG QAL, but QAL nonetheless
A single plant yields 20,000 seeds, which can be dispersed by winds over short distances. Seeds can also be inadvertently transported in soil.
