Борщевик Мантегацци или Heracléum mantegazziánum is the largest representative of the umbrella family. The species is invasive, over time it has spread far beyond its original range of growth. Like all the other hogsheviki, the plant contains furanokumariny, which are dangerous to animals and humans.
On the origin of the name
Latin name hogweed Mantegazzi (photo bytext) received in honor of the ancient Greek hero Hercules. It is given to the plant by Linnaeus for gigantic sizes. In Danish, German and Dutch, hogweed was given the name “bear paw”.
According to written sources of the 16th century in RussiaThe plant was called "borsch". According to one version, the word could mean something jagged. The name assigned to the plant, most likely because of the shape of the leaves.
According to some reports, the young green horshevikaused for cooking soup, which later became shortly called "soup". The concept changed only in the 18th century. From now on, soup with the addition of beets was called borsch.
Hogweed Mantegazzi: description of the plant
All members of the genus Borsheviki can be foundby a rather specific appearance. They are tall grass, as a rule, with a hollow stem and basal rosette of long-peeled large leaves, dissected into several segments.
Hogweed Sosnovsky and giant alike.Here are just the second much larger in size. In height, the stem of the plant reaches 6 m, it grows up to 5-10 cm in diameter. It has a characteristic purple tint or spotting. While the Hogweed Sosnovsky grows only up to 3 m in height.
The view can be recognized by the characteristic3-5 separate leaves with feathery segments. They reach 3 m in length and have a rich dark green color. Hogweed Mantegazzi, like other members of the genus, is a monocarpic. In other words, it blooms once and dies immediately after the fruits ripen. Huge umbrella inflorescences reach a diameter of one meter. They have 30-150 rays each, on which there are numerous small white flowers. Their total number per plant reaches 80 thousand. The flowering period lasts from June to August.
For all hogweed characteristic dry double seed fractional fruit - visoplod.
Spread
Hogweed Mantegazzi is a typical example.invasive species. Those are plants, animals that are accidentally brought in by a person or independently spread along the corridors created by him to new regions for them and successfully settled down there. Moreover, they began to actively multiply and capture all new territories, thereby threatening the local flora and fauna.
Initially, the giant hogweed couldmeet only in the north-western Caucasus. In the 19th century it was brought to England for breeding in the garden. People really liked the spectacular view of the plant, its huge inflorescences and unpretentiousness. In the end, the hogweed captured not only the whole of Western Europe, but even reached the United States. Currently, it is rarely used to design gardens.
Hogweed Sosnovsky and Mantegazzi: which is more dangerous?
Danger for humans are both plants.The watery clear juice of Horshevik contains special light-sensitive substances belonging to the group of furanocoumarins. Under the action of ultraviolet rays, they become active and can cause burns on the skin of animals and people. The danger lies in the fact that at first the impact of the juice does not feel. If there is contact with the plant on sunny days, a first-degree burn may develop.
Research confirms that if affectedmore than 80% of the body surface, a person may die. When hit in the eyes, hogweed juice can cause blindness. Cases of vision loss in children who played with hollow, durable stems of the plant as telescopes and telescopes were noted. If contact occurs with the sap of the plant, the skin should be washed immediately with soap and water and the sun will not be exposed to this area for the next two days.
Hogweed Sosnovsky is currently consideredmore dangerous. It is proved that its juice has toxic properties even without photoactivation. It can cause disturbances in the structure of chromosomes, mainly by damage to the spindle of division. In other words, the juice has a mutagenic effect. In addition, it inhibits mitotic cell division.
Weed control
Currently in many countries of the WestIn Europe, as well as in Russia, there is a real struggle with the hogweed Mantegazzi. The method of mapping zones and destroying a plant before the appearance of seeds has proven itself to be the most simple and widespread. Its effectiveness is significantly increased if the hogweed is dug out and burned along with the roots.
Quite often practiced point use of herbicides. Now, many laboratories are developing a selective (selective) chemical drug against borshevik.
