Poison Hemlock Is Blooming In Nebraska And Here's What You Need To Know
By Delana Lefevers|Published June 17, 2020
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Delana Lefevers
Author
As a lifelong Nebraskan, Delana loves discovering the many hidden treasures of her state. She has worked as a writer and editor since 2007. Delana's work has been featured on more than a dozen websites and in Nebraska Life Magazine.
When you go out this summer for some outdoor recreation with the family, be sure to keep an eye on your surroundings. Everyone knows to look out for nettles, poison ivy, poison oak, and the like, but there’s one plant that’s more dangerous than all of the others, and it’s in bloom now. Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself and your loved ones this summer.
Poison hemlock, or hemlock, isn't a new discovery in Nebraska. It's not even uncommon. But this year as some of our favorite places to play are closed, there are more of us out and about in nature. The growing conditions this year were also very favorable for the hemlock, so there may be more of them this year as well.
The hemlock features beautiful little clusters of flowers and fern-like leaves. Its attractiveness has led many people to pick it and take it inside to use in a flower arrangement. Resist that urge, though - every part of the hemlock plant is highly toxic to humans, pets, and livestock. Ingesting even a little can be fatal.
Complicating the matter is the fact that hemlock closely resembles Queen Anne's lace, a delicate, harmless flower that blooms later in the season. They're both in the carrot family and tend to grow in the same places and conditions. Knowing how to tell the difference between the two could be a matter of life or death.
The most obvious difference between the two plants is in the stalks. Hemlock plants have hollow, hairless stalks with red or purple splotches, along with smooth leaves. Queen Anne's lace has fuzzy, solid green stalks and fuzzy leaves.
It can be very difficult to tell the two plants apart by their foliage, but the telltale marker is the hemlock's lack of fuzz. Below is an example of a hemlock leaf.
Below is the Queen Anne's lace leaf. It's only very subtly different from that of hemlock. However, if you touch this leaf you'll feel a soft covering of fuzz.
The flowers give us even more clues as to the plant's identity. Both have small white flowers on the ends of thin stalks, or umbels, that give the flowers the appearance of small umbrellas.
The poison hemlock flower, above, has more of a domed top while Queen Anne's lace flowers appear a bit more flattened on the top. The Queen Anne's lace flowers will usually, but not always, have one single bit of red right in the center of the flower cluster. Also, note in the third picture from the top the pointy bracts stemming off just underneath the flower head on Queen Anne's lace. The hemlock does not have this feature.
Another way to tell the difference between poison hemlock and Queen Anne’s lace is to note the time of year. Hemlock blooms earlier in the season, usually mid-to-late spring. Queen Anne’s lace blooms later in the summer. If you come across one of these plants and you’re not sure which it is, be safe and don’t touch it. If you need help identifying the plants, don’t rely on the often-wrong plant ID apps. Call your local extension office instead. You can find the number for your county’s office here.
Have you come across the deadly hemlock plant in your Nebraska neighborhood? Share your experiences in the comments.
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