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Glyphosate, a herbicide which is marketed under various names, is widely used around the world to control a broad array of weeds in agriculture, forestry, orchards, rightsofway and around the home. Glyphosate is an especially effective and simple weed management tool for some agricultural crops that can tolerate the herbicide. However, its widespread, repeated, and often sole use for weed management has selected weeds that have become glyphosate resistant and are thus not controlled by this herbicide.
Well-known garden plants such as carrots, parsnip and dill have cousins with some nasty characteristics. Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), common hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) and their hybrids were introduced into the United States from Europe in the early 1900s as showy garden ornamentals. But they can pack a painful punch.