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Conservation and health officials are being swamped with calls from GTA residents who fear they will become victims of the giant Asian hogweed.
However, Karen McDonald, of the Toronto Region Conservation Authority, urged everyone to remain calm about the nasty weed.
About 20 plants were found along the upper Don River, and TRCA staff are investigating reports of others farther south, McDonald said. Most findings, however, have been of a common, stinky cousin -- cow parsnip.
Sap from both plants can cause blisters and dermatitis. But McDonald said the health risk posed by cow parsnip, the only native North American hogweed, "is not as severe as what can happen if you are exposed to giant hogweed."
Sap from the giant version, which can grow up to five metres, can cause blindness if a person touches the sap and then rubs their eyes.
McDonald said it was imported to England and Europe almost 200 years ago from Asia as livestock feed. Giant hogweed was first reported in Canada in 1949 and in recent years spread to Southern Ontario.
"We've had a big reaction on hogweed over the last two days," McDonald said. "We are concerned about it."
The TRCA calls the giant hogweed "poisonous," while the counties of Grey, Huron, Wellington and Perth -- plus the City of Waterloo -- have branded it a "noxious weed."
McDonald said the best way to tackle growing fear about its presence is through "public awarenesss."
Anyone who believes they spotted giant hogweed -- especially plants with broad, pointed leaves and a tell-tale "hairy purple stem" that cow parsnip lacks -- can consult the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters website, invadingspecies.com, and Ontario's ministry of agriculture via weedinfo.ca.
McDonald said giant hogweed does not flower in its first year and, if dwarfed by less-than-ideal growing conditions, can be mistaken for its less-dangerous cousin.
If growing in a public area, people should contact the municipality, use cool, soapy water to wash any exposed skin surface, and not pick any for house ornaments after they die in fall or winter, since dropped seeds will result in regrowth.
TRCA crews destroy giant hogweed three ways: Repeated mowing to destroy the carrot-like roots; removal by digging; and by using herbicides.
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