Hogweed hybrids

The hogweeds are great edibles and there are 5 pages on how they are used around the world in my book “Around the world in 80 plants”. On my bike ride to work I pass an area in Trondheim where both Heracleum sphondylium (common hogweed / kystbjørnekjeks) and Heracleum sibiricum (Siberian hogweed / sibirbjørnekjeks) occur. Sibiricum is the main species in our area. Officially, sibiricum is accepted as a subspecies of sphondylium, but they are so different (green, symmetric flowers for sibiricum; white, assymetric flowers for sphondylium) that I think of them as separate species. However, a swarm of hybrids or intermediate forms occur in this overlapping area. This has also happened in my own garden where I have planted sphondylium together with sibiricum and other Heracleum species. This is an album to collect pictures mainly of the hybrids. They are also great edimentals! The first pictures are of the pure “species” for comparison.

http://www.edimentals.com/pictures/index.php?/category/53

Norwegian article on hogweeds: http://www.skogoglandskap.no/filearchive/sopp_og_nyttevekster_4_2013_artikkel_stephen_barstow.pdf

 

2 thoughts on “Hogweed hybrids”

  1. In your experience is Heracleum sibiricum as edible as Heracleum maximum? In you book you quote someone else as saying its quite strong tasting. I´m wondering if I should go for the good tasting one first which is maximum right?

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Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden