This plant reaches an overall height of 7-15' and has white umbrella shaped flowers up to 2 1/2" wide and leaves up to 5' wide so it would "stand out" among other plants. However, it can easily be confused with a smaller plant known as "Cow Parsnip" which looks very similar but has white flat-topped flowers no larger than 1' wide and is not toxic.

Hogweed Flowers....BAD!

Cow Parsnip Flowers.... safe

In either case, if you see a plant that looks like this either here or in your summer travels....Avoid it.... and call the Department of Natural Resources hotline at
1-866-NO EXOTIC ( 1-866-663-9684 )

You've probably seen many of my 1/4"- 1/2" long relatives over the years whenever you lifted up a damp piece of rotting wood or peeked  under a rock or flower pot sitting on damp ground. Or, maybe you saw some of us in a damp corner of your basement.

Yep, that's me, up close and personal; old "Roly Poly",

"Armadillo Bug", "Wood Louse". Whatever you grew up calling me, it's still me. You know, I got the name "roly poly" because I can roll up into a ball when I'm scared or attacked unlike that "Sowbug" that looks almost exactly like me. For the record though my real name is "Pillbug" and as you have probably figured out or now remember we are always hiding in damp places. That's because we absolutely need those kinds of places to survive. We can't live "in" water and we can't live on "dry" land so if you see us you know it is pretty moist.

Also for the record we are not really a "bug" like an insect or spider. We are more like a shrimp or a crayfish and are called Crustaceans and like many crustaceans we are born in a pouch on our mother's belly and are carried around by her just like a kangaroo until she thinks we are old enough to head out into the brave new world on our own.

There are also some other things that make us pretty unique but this site is G-rated so I can't really go into all that.

Anyway, the important thing is that we are totally harmless. We do not bite, sting, eat your food or plants or attack you while you sleep. We just kinda hang out where it's good and moist and munch on decaying stuff.

So, the bottom line here is this. If you find us somewhere in your landscape you will know that the ground there is really moist. We are probably not causing your plant to look ugly or die but are a good indication that the plant you put there is getting way too much moisture.
Either plant something there that likes the dampness such as astilbes or ferns ( if it's shady ) or figure out what is causing all the moisture and fix it. Otherwise, you'll be seeing us!  

Now,


if I could


just get someone to








rub my belly....

P-L-E-A-S-E??????