A noxious weed called wild parsnip has been spotting growing in Borderland.
According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, people should avoid skin contact with the toxic sap of the plant tissue by wearing gloves, long sleeves and long pants.
The juice of wild parsnip in contact with skin in the presence of sunlight can cause a rash and blistering and discoloration of the skin (phytophotodermatitis), according to the DNR.
Wild parsnip is described as a monocarpic perennial herbaceous plant (plant spends one or more years in rosette stage, blooms under favorable conditions, and then dies), 6 inches high in the rosette stage and 4 feet high on stout, grooved stems in the flowering stage.
Leaves: Alternate, leaf is made up of five to 15 egg shaped leaflets along both sides of a common stalk; leaflets are sharply-toothed or lobed at the margins; upper leaves are smaller.
Flowers: Flat-topped broad flower cluster 2-6" wide, numerous five-petaled yellow flowers; bloom from June to late summer.
Seeds: Small, flat, round, slightly ribbed, straw colored, abundant take 3 weeks to ripen before they can reseed; viable in the soil for 4 years.
Roots: Long, thick, edible taproot.
A native of Europe and Asia this plant has escaped from cultivation, it is grown as root vegetable, and is common throughout the U.S.
Well established prairies are not likely to be invaded by wild parsnip, but it readily moves into disturbed habitats, along edges and or in disturbed patches. It invades slowly, but once population builds it spreads rapidly and can severely modify open dry, moist, and wet-moist habitats.
Control methods include: hand pulling and removing of plants; cutting the plant below the root crown before seeds set, and removing the cut plant; mowing or cutting the base of the flowering stem and removing;
Chemical control methods include spot application with glyphosate or selective metsulfuron after a prescribed burn, as parsnip is one of the first plants to green up.