For some, the flora of our region doesn't pose much of a threat and isn't something that is perceived as harmful. But the list of dangerous plants in our neck of the woods goes beyond poison ivy, and - even if they go unnoticed - they are there.
"Sometimes we refer to our inability to see the plants around us, compared to things like animals, as either 'plant blindness' or, more recently, we really refer to that as 'plant awareness disparity,'" says Dr. Amanda Grusz, assistant professor of biology at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and a research associate with the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
Yellow foxglove, wild parsnip and water hemlock are a few of the common plants in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin that can cause harm to human health. How harmful can these plants be? "Truly harmful," says Grusz. "They can range anywhere from being something that causes dermatitis... or they can be even fatal." Water hemlock is possibly the most notorious, affecting both humans and livestock. "If you see something that looks like a giant carrot on the side of the road, you should probably not touch it."
To learn more about plant identification, Grusz recommends Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas, Minnesota Wildflowers Website, Minnesota DNR, and USDA Plants Database.
You can hear Green Visions at 8:20am every Wednesday on Northland Morning.
