Pest Alert - Six Lookalike Plants to Avoid

(Updated: Aug. 1, 2025, 8:53 a.m.)

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has created a webpage warning, "Don’t touch these plants! Six lookalikes you want to avoid."

cow parsnip
Cow parsnip is native to North Carolina. Contact with cow parsnip may cause skin irritation, blistering rashes, and skin discoloration. This plant can measure four to ten feet tall and has stems that are fuzzy and grooved.

According to the experts at Fish and Wildlife, "It can be difficult to determine whether you’re looking at hogweed, hemlock or parsnip, but all of these plants have several things in common. Contact (with these plants) may cause unpleasant, potentially deadly, reactions." Get familiar with these species to stay safe!

Learn about these six toxic plants: Plants to Avoid. Although plant identification apps are useful, do not rely on their findings when identifying toxic plants. Be sure to stay away from any plant you think might be toxic.

water hemlock
Water hemlock can be found along streams in western North Carolina. Avoid touching and plant that looks like this plant. Water hemlock is highly toxic.