Phototoxic plant giant hogweed spotted near Nairn River walk under Jubilee Bridge
An exotic and toxic plant has been spotted by a popular riverside walk in Nairn — with one resident warning walkers to stay alert.
Three specimens of giant hogweed — a plant whose sap can cause painful blisters and burns when exposed to sunlight — were seen growing under the Jubilee Bridge near the path along the River Nairn.
Local resident Clarissa Carvalho said her partner and daughter spotted the plant earlier this week, after which she stopped to check its location and to report it to the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI).
One of the plants is on the riverside playpark side, and another next to the paths that go down to the rocks — the what3words reference being ///pretty.needed.chill.
According to Ms Carvalho, the location of the giant hogweed — and the plant being still young — could make this particularly dangerous.
“The river there is quite shallow, so there's usually a pebble beach that forms, and quite often there are dogs, children, and on Friday afternoons, teenagers that hang out there,” she said.
“When I went for the pictures, there was a lady with a dog off leash, and I warned her to keep the dog away from the plant.
“I think one of the dangers is that it's a young plant, and people always expect giant hogweed to be huge with flowers, so it's hard to identify it, but even a young plant can cause a lot of damage. And even though it is young, it was taller than my daughter, who is five.”
The SISI’s website warns that the sap of the plant is phototoxic, causing serious skin burns under sunlight and not to touch it when coming across it.
Dogs and pets should also be kept away, as they can also get burns.
