About 20 honey bees probed the flower heads of the giant hogweed spreading outside Chris Dilger's two-story home in the Town of Dryden off Niemi Road.

"At first glance, it can be a pretty plant," Dilger said, looking at about two dozen hogweed plants lining the roadside along his property.

The plants are within reach of any curious passerby, who could be struck by 6-foot-tall weeds and their thousands of white petals clustered on flower heads the size of a dinner plate.

Unlike a poison frog's flamboyant colors or the odor of a nearby skunk, there are no telltale signs of danger in giant hogweed.

It's often described as a massive version of the wildflower Queen Anne's lace, that also has frilly white flowers. But, the resemblance between the two plants ends there. It's best to pass up plucking any giant hogweed flowers for a summer garland.

The plant's clear, watery sap can combine with moisture and sunlight, causing severe skin and eye burns, painful blistering, permanent scarring and blindness. Contact with the plant's sap can occur through brushing against bristles on the stem and breaking the stem or leaves.

Giant hogweed has been identified at 55 locations throughout Tompkins County, 23 locations in Broome County and at one site in Chemung County, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

So far this year, 89 hogweed sites have been discovered throughout New York, said Stephanie Thorpe, who works for the department's giant hogweed control program. The majority of infestations are identified during June and July, when hogweed and some lookalike plants blossom.

Thorpe said that untrained people who take precautions can remove the plant, but the Tompkins County Highway Division has taken a hands-off approach, leaving hogweed removal to the state.

Giant hogweed in bloom New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

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Seven new hogweed sites have popped up in Tompkins since last year, there was one new site in Broome and no new sites in Chemung, according to DEC data.

The DEC has giant hogweed control crews throughout the state that are aiming to eradicate the plant. The crew handling hogweed outbreaks in Tompkins, Broome and Chemung consists of two people.

"We are seeing some success," Thorpe said.

The DEC reports that it eradicated 149 hogweed sites throughout New York, Thorpe said. Another 199 sites haven't had hogweed come back since treatment last year.

The Tompkins County highway department said hogweed is persisting at locations off Waterburg Road, in Ulysses; Old 76 Road, in Caroline; and Niemi Road, in Dryden.

A 2014 DEC map shows hogweed is found in every county in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes region. In Broome County, the map shows sites with up to 400 plants near the City of Binghamton. In Chemung County, the plant is found near the border with Tompkins County. In Tioga County, hogweed stands are found in the central portion of the county.

"It's deemed to be a noxious plant; it's very dangerous to come into contact with," Smith said. Tompkins County alerts the DEC when it identifies giant hogweed plants, he added.

Chemung County deputy public works commissioner John Webert said his employees are told to stay away from giant hogweed if they see it.

"That's the extent of our work," he said. "As far as I know, we haven't found any."

Broome County Highway officials did not respond to numerous requests for comment about their hogweed efforts.

Dilger said the Tompkins County Highway Division called DEC crews to his property last year, and they cut off hogweed flower heads and dug up the plants. Still, more plants came back this summer.

"It is getting worse," Dilger said. "The bottom line is that you can't rely on the county coming out and eradicating everything ... You have to take responsibility for it."

Dilger said he has now taken hogweed eradication efforts into his own hands. He wears beekeepers gloves, a long-sleeved jacket and long pants while painting herbicide onto the plants and chopping off flower heads.

Hogweed flower heads should be chopped off, double-bagged in plastic and then left in the sun for weeks to kill any seeds. Then the plant needs to be uprooted, according to DEC.

The plants should not be removed by mowing or burning. A mower can spread seeds and bring about hogweed exposure. Burning has potential to turn hogweed sap into an aerosol and afflict people as well, Thorpe said.

Identify giant hogweed

Giant hogweed characteristics:

• White flowers with 50 to 150 flower rays bunched into an umbrella-shaped flower cluster up to 2.5 feet across.

• Between 7 and 14 feet tall.

• Huge incised and deeply lobed leaves up to 5 feet across.

• Stems are green with extensive purple splotches and prominent coarse white hairs. Stems are hollow, ridged, 2 to 4 inches in diameter with a thick circle of hairs at base of leaf stalk with purple blotches.

• Seeds are dry, flattened and oval. Approximately 3/8 inch long and tan with brown lines (oil tubes) extending ¾ of the seed length that widen at ends.

Giant hogweed is a native of the Caucasus Mountain region between the Black and Caspian Seas.

It was introduced to Europe and the United Kingdom in the late 19th century, and then to the United States during the early 20th century as an ornamental garden plant. It then became established in New England, the Mid-Atlantic Region and the Northwest.

Giant hogweed grows along streams and rivers and in fields, forests, yards and roadsides. It prefers open sites with abundant light and moist soil, but it can grow in partially shaded habitats, too.