With Sunshine Comes Pushki Burn Potential

Pushki, (Heracleum maximum), also known as cow parsnip, can be a culinary delicacy for adventurous localvores, but is more well-known for its tendancy to give the unaware severe chemical burns, espeically on sunny days. Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge photo via Flikr.

Jay Barrett/KMXT

With the recent return of sunshine around Kodiak comes a renewed threat of burns from a very common plant – pushki, or cow parsnip. It’s known is some places as wild celery, and when it’s young, parts of it are actually edible.

But when it matures and you get the oils from the plant on your skin, it could cause severe chemical burns when exposed to the ultraviolet light from the sun. Janice Chumley is the University of Alaska Cooperative Extension agent in Soldotna.

“There are toxins that are located in the stem and the little hairs on the stem on pushki that when it comes in contact with the skin can cause burns. It depends on how sensitive you are to that, obviously to that, but good burns, causes blisters, and the more sun that you’re exposed to with that the greater the burning becomes,” she said. “And so it is really painful for people that have encountered pushki and have been burned by that, it leaves scars and it kind of almost permanently sensitizes you to that area and sunshine exposure.”

Chumley says the combination of sunny weather and yard work can turn a pleasant afternoon around fairly quickly if proper cautions aren’t taken.

“If you’re out mowing or weed-whacking and say it’s a nice day and you’re wearing shorts or short sleeves or sandals and you don’t realize what it is you’re hitting with the weed-whacker, it could cause you some pretty severe damage later on,” she said. “It’s important to dress accordingly when you’re dealing with plants like that, that have that toxic affect. So that means long pants, shoes, socks, gloves are always helpful. And often if you realize you’re dealing with pushki specifically, I would encourage you to wear goggles, hat, and if you’re very susceptible, wear a respirator.”

Yes, she said wear a respirator.

“You can easily burn your lungs as well,” Chumley said. “There have been episodes of people who have been hospitalized from too much pushki exposure. Smashing and inhaling that and having to be hospitalized.”

If exposed, Chumley recommends washing thoroughly with soap and water and if burns develop, seek medical attention.

On the other end of the spectrum is the consuming of pushki as a wild food delicacy.

“Oh yeah, yeah. There are many people who eat this, but it has to be when they’re young. You know you gather the plant when it’s little, not when it’s full blown, open into a flower. You know that’s really the difference. If you’re using it as a food source, you’re already familiar with how to prepare it and how to harvest it and how to dress accordingly for it,” she said. “And if it’s a new plant to you, then, as with all new things, you should take precautions before eating a lot of or certainly harvesting it and making sure that that’s done at the correct time.”

She also warns that dead pushki that’s gone to seed can still cause burns, and so recommends caution even in the fall and winter.