Belongs to: carrot family

Compare with: wild angelica

Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium


Best time to see: mid May to mid Oct

Key facts

A tall, robust plant with broad, almost flat umbels of small white flowers, growing in rough grassland and open woods

Pinnate leaves with broad toothed leaflets (cf. angelica, which has smaller, twice-branching leraflets)

Very attractive to insects, and especially soldier beetles, but can sensitise delicate skins to sunlight, so handle with care


© Pat Allen