Nature's stuff, easy to touch. Especially those guys who are particularly bright-looking, there may be dangers behind you that you don't know, such as poisonous mushrooms that make people eat "lying boards".
"Red umbrella umbrella, white pole pole, after eating together to lie on the board"
First take a look at the photos of the big grass, do you think it is very familiar? Does it look particularly similar to the water poison parsley that can be found everywhere in the countryside? However, whether it is water poison parsley or large grass, it is very dangerous.
What kind of plant is it? Why is it flooding in Europe and the United States? What's so scary about it? Why hasn't it grown wild in China? Next, let's understand why this big grass that has ravaged more than a dozen countries needs to wear protective clothing, and why it has not been able to flourish in China.
Big Grass – a more formal name is "Big Leaf Cow Windproof"
Giant pig grass - big pig grass
In fact, this poisonous grass is a literal translation of the English Giant Hogweed, and in Europe and the United States, they are often called giant pig grass. Some of the large grasses distributed in New Zealand are also often mistaken for European parsnips.
The big pig grass blooms huge white flowers, up to two and a half inches in diameter
The big grass is very tall, and the average big grass can grow up to 2 meters, and some can even grow up to 7 meters. The stems of the large grass are hollow, with a minimum diameter of 3 cm and a maximum of almost 8 cm, and some may reach 10 cm for many years. On both the petiole and stem, there are white villi or spots.
As a plant of the umbelliferous family, it also grows an umbel-shaped inflorescence consisting of 50-150 white flower clusters with a diameter of 80 cm. It is also a perennial herb that can grow for up to 7 years without external damage.
In terms of size, the grass is about the same height as the common tree
Similar in appearance, different in toxicity
It is very similar to the water cress that grows in the rural areas of the mainland, because both belong to the umbelliferous family and both have small white flowers. However, the toxicity of the two is not the same, let's make a simple difference.
Water poison parsley (scientific name: poison parsley) is distributed in the northeast of the mainland, Xinjiang and other regions
- Toxicity of the big grass
It is not accurate to say that the big grass is a "poisonous weed", because it is a toxin it produces, called furancoumarin, which is almost all found in the sap of its roots, stems, leaves, flowers and seeds.
Furancoumarin has a strong absorption effect on ultraviolet rays, so if the skin comes into contact with it, it can lead to insolation dermatitis.
The process of occurrence of insolation dermatitis
Within a day or two, if you are still in constant contact with the sun, coupled with the sweat secreted by the skin, the skin will immediately blister and feel burning. If the contact area is too large, or if the amount is too large, it can lead to severe burns.
If you accidentally rub the juice into your eyes, you can become temporarily blind at worst and permanently blind.
When the blisters of the skin are removed, they form red bumps or scars, and the scars of this burn may remain permanently on the surface of the skin.
Patients with severe insolic dermatitis should go to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible and avoid sun exposure
- The most toxic plant in North America, water parsley
In fact, as a plant of the umbelliferous family, it is not only water parsley that looks like the big grass, but it should be the most toxic.
In North America, watercress is also widely distributed, so the USDA lists it as "the most toxic plant in North America." Its average height is roughly 0.6 m - 1.3 m, and individuals can grow up to 1.8 m.
Cress looks larger, and parsley is smaller
The toxicity of water parsley comes from the poison parsley, which can destroy the central nervous system, cause strong convulsions after accidental consumption in humans and animals, and if consumed too much, it will lead to respiratory failure and death.
So although the two umbelliferous plants look very similar, their toxicity is not the same. In both, we should pay more attention to this kind of water parsley distributed in many provinces in China to avoid accidental ingestion.
The central nervous system, which consists of the brain and spinal cord, is the most dominant part of the nervous system
The big grass hurt people
In 2015, a 10-year-old British girl, while going fishing with her father in the wild, accidentally got wet with the juice of the big grass. Due to the excessive sunlight in the wild and the failure to deal with it in time, the result was a grade 3 burn on the little girl's two hands.
Another 17-year-old boy, Alex Childress, was clearing weeds when his face accidentally came into contact with the juice of the big weed, causing severe burns on his face.
Alex was also interviewed by local media at the time, and by this time his face was covered with purple and brown scars and was badly peeled. Even the wrist was not spared, and later after the results of the injury came out, it was determined that the wrist and face had reached a grade 3 burn.
10-year-old girl Lauren Fowler was burned in both hands
Alex said that at the first time of contact with the juice, it must be treated with water, so that the degree of burns will be much lessened, and must not stand in the sun again, otherwise the burns will be aggravated.
So for two days after being burned by the juice, he hid in the dark, and even artificial light could aggravate his injuries.
Alex with burns on the face
Why is the big grass flooding
It was originally distributed in the caucasus mountains between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, in southern Russia. Because it prefers to grow in wet areas along streams and rivers, and is also very tolerant of low temperatures, it can grow even in low temperatures of -40 ° C.
Therefore, the low temperature and humid climate in the caucasus mountains are very suitable for the growth of large grasses. It is also the special climate and landform here that attracts many tourists.
The Caucasus region is located between the Caspian and Black Seas and is about 440,000 square kilometers
So in the 19th century, Georgians living in the mid-western region of the Caucasus, when they saw this plant living in the mountains, were attracted by its huge umbrella-shaped flower tray and then introduced to Georgia.
Later, it was taken in by the British and introduced to Britain. In the 20th century, the United States also used it as an ornamental plant. Then there was a species invasion brought about by the crazy reproduction of the big grass.
From St. Petersburg to Siberia, the grass is constantly multiplying and secreting venom that destroys the soil, making it impossible for other vegetation to survive here.
When encountering this poisonous flower in the wild, do not touch it, so as not to cause harm
In coastal areas, they can even use the power of rivers and oceans to send seeds to other humid areas and choose a place where the sun can shine to continue to reproduce. Every summer, it is the time when they sow seeds, and the number can even reach 100,000.
Since these seeds can also survive for about 3 days in water, their range can expand to more areas.
Nowadays, the grass has spread to more than a dozen countries in Europe and the United States, such as Finland, Germany, France, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic and other countries.
Large grass in the early stages of growth
The removal of large grass is difficult
Because the invasion of the grass has not only caused serious harm to other vegetation, but also in many countries, children have accidentally touched and caused burns, even some adults may not be able to distinguish the harm of this plant.
The United States and the United Kingdom, as the first countries to introduce large grass, are even more affected by it. Therefore, the two countries have also enacted special laws that it is illegal to plant large grass without permission.
There have been several incidents of children being burned due to exposure to large grass while playing in the park
In order to make more public awareness of the grass and teach everyone to guard against the venom of the grass, some states in the United States have also specially developed instruction manuals and promotional materials.
But to reduce the possibility of the public being injured by the big grass, the most important thing is to find a way to eliminate it. In many countries in Europe and the United States, there is no natural enemy of the big grass, so they can only eliminate these big grasses by spraying pesticides and manually cutting them.
And during the cleaning process, be sure to be fully armed to avoid the skin touching the juice. Since these juices can still penetrate ordinary clothing and come into contact with the skin, it is also necessary to wear protective clothing that can prevent the juice from touching the skin and has ultraviolet protection functions.
Professionals are heavily armed to approach the big grass
However, whether it is sprayed with pesticides or directly cut off, it is difficult to cut all the grass and remove the roots. The seeds of the big grass can survive in the soil for many years, and even if the big grass is cut off, these seeds may come back to life at any time.
Therefore, to completely remove the big grass, a lot of effort must be made every year. In order to avoid seed residue, the most suitable removal time is in the summer, before the seeds grow out, so as to slightly improve the efficiency of removal.
"Please God is easy to send God is difficult"
Big grass can't be arrogant in China
It is not common in China to see the big grass, as mentioned earlier, the toxic substance of the big grass is actually furfuran coumarin. In fact, many plants growing in China also contain such ingredients. Plants like carrots, celery roots, and some citrus plants secrete some of the coumarins.
It's just that this ingredient is not found in different plants, and it's not as much in the big grass. So even if we eat these plants as food, it doesn't necessarily have an impact.
Foods that contain high furfuran coumarins are commonly found in grapefruit, citrus, etc
However, it should be noted that this natural toxin is present in many plants, and under normal circumstances, we eat these foods containing a small amount of furancoumarin will not harm the body, but if it is some people with sensitive stomachs, or some people who are taking targeted drugs and endocrine therapy drugs, they cannot eat these foods.