Cape Breton - "They call it their cabin because there are a lot
of trees and high grass and stuff," said his mother, Diane
MacInnis, about the vacant lot near her home where she believed
her son came in contact with the hogweed. "He and his brother
were down there playing and he had no shirt on because it was
hot out that day. The next day we went camping and I noticed
there was this huge mark across his chest area. It started to
bubble and blister and he said it was sore." The Cape Breton
Post snapped photos of several dozen plants on the vacant lot
and along the nearby roadside. They were sent to Marian Munro, a
curator of botany for the Nova Scotia Museum, for
identification. She quickly determined the plant in question to
be wild parsnip, which produces similar affects as the hogweed
when the sap comes in contact with human skin. MacInnis was
worried about long-terms effects of her son's contact with the
plant sap, such as the possibility of long-term sensitivity to
the sun and even blindness. However, th