Ukonputket – Heracleum

In Finland, the plants were initially introduced as garden plants due to their large size and spectacular inflorescence. They are very resistant to northern conditions and have spread throughout the country, except for northernmost Lapland. Persian hogweed is less common in nature than giant hogweed. Observations of Sosnowsky’s hogweed have also been reported on the Finnish side. However, the findings have not been verified, and its distribution in Finland is poorly known.

Some of the existing populations are remnants from cultivation. They have spread from gardens to nearby forests, roadsides, wastelands and uninhabited plots along with garden waste and transferred land masses. They are also found in nature reserves and in the vicinity of endangered species.

Alien plants in the Heracleum group are native to the Caucasus and Southwest Asia. The name of each species hints at its origin: giant hogweed originates from Western Caucasus, Persian hogweed from the territory of Iran, Iraq and Turkey, and Sosnowsky’s hogweed from the Caucasus. Giant hogweed was introduced to England as an ornamental plant in 1817, and Persian hogweed a few years later. Only about ten years later, giant hogweed was first reported as a fugitive from gardens.

The history of Sosnowsky’s hogweed differs. It was apparently brought to the Kola Peninsula Botanical Gardens in the 1930s. It has been used as a fodder plant in Eastern Europe and especially in the territory of the former Soviet Union, e.g. in the Baltics and the Karelian Isthmus. It occurs on the Russian side in Karelia, very close to the Finnish border.