Important Facts About Poison Hemlock

Poison hemlock grows throughout much of the United States, including Ohio. This invasive species has white flowers that grow in small erect clusters. The tall plant often lines fence lines and is found in irrigation ditches and in other moist, waste places. It also is often seen lining highways.

According to Anderson Township’s Greenspace Inspector Suzanne Clingman, the plant “grows on nearly every sunny woods edge and unmowed areas in Anderson Township. It is almost never an issue.”

Clingman noted that most people do not react to poison hemlock like they do to poison ivy. Touching the plant or getting it on their skin or in their eyes does not usually cause a problem, she said.

“It is toxic if you eat it,” she noted. Domestic animals, swine, horses, sheep and cattle can be poisoned by eating small amounts of it.

“There is poison hemlock everywhere. Drive down Ohio 32 in another week or so and look at the very tall white blooming plant that lines both sides of the highway,” she said. That’s poison hemlock. She urged residents to stay away from this invasive species.