Iowa
Iowa wildflower Wednesday: Poison hemlock
Radio Iowa reported on June 14 that Hancock County Weed Commissioner Jason Lackore “is sounding the alarm” after finding poison hemlock in two public areas upstream from sites where cattle producers let their animals graze.
“If it was any other plant, I wouldn’t be making such a fuss, but this plant — all parts are extremely poisonous to humans, domestic animals,” Lackore said. “And you hear a lot about livestock, cattle, ingesting small amounts. It’s fatal.”
Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) is best known as an ancient method of execution, used to kill the Greek philosopher Socrates. This European native has unfortunately spread across the U.S. and is prevalent in Iowa. I see it almost every day while walking my dog. I took all of the photos enclosed below less than a mile from my home in Windsor Heights.
Habitats where poison hemlock thrives “include edges of degraded wetlands and prairies, low-lying areas along small rivers, banks of drainage ditches, thickets, woodland borders, fence rows, low-lying areas along railroads and roads, pastures, and abandoned fields.” You will mostly likely find it on disturbed ground, such as near railroad tracks or pavement. This patch is growing next to the parking lot behind the “Sherwood Forest” strip mall on Hickman Road.
That purple sign reads “prairie restoration.” It went up around twelve years ago, when a local student seeded a prairie patch in this area for his Eagle Scout project. Unfortunately, with no one maintaining the plantings, the field became overrun with invasive plants within a few years. I rarely see prairie species there anymore.
There’s no natural check on poison hemlock; according to Illinois Wildflowers, “Mammalian herbivores won’t touch the foliage because of its bitter rank odor and extreme toxicity.”
Like wild carrot, which it resembles, and other members of the parsley family, these plants are on a two-year cycle. Basal leaves grow during the first year, and the flowering stalk appears the following year.
The next image shows the plant in its first year.
In the second year, poison hemlock plants typically reach heights of three to eight feet. I’ve seen them much smaller, though; this one was barely one foot tall.
Some native plants—such as common elderberry and cow parsnip—also have clusters (umbels) of small white flowers blooming in May or June across Iowa. But the leaves and flower clusters on those plants look quite different.
Minnesota Wildflowers notes another distinguishing feature of poison hemlock: “The main stem is light green and covered in purple spots.” You can see a splotchy stem on the right side of this image.
After the blooming period, the foliage turns yellow, and the stems may look mostly red, rather than splotchy.
I struggle to photograph poison hemlock flowers, which “span only 1/8″ (3 mm.) across when they are fully open.” This plant has buds on the verge of opening as well as clusters of flowers in full bloom.
More flowers open:
Getting a clear view of the green fruit as it develops is also challenging. These plants have some clusters of flowers open and other clusters of green seed pods.
Eradicating poison hemlock is not easy. Illinois Wildflowers advises, “In removing this plant from a given area, don’t pull it out using your bare hands. It is better to wear washable gloves while hand-pulling a limited number of plants. For large areas of infestation, it is best to apply broadleaf herbicides or mow down the plants during the spring shortly before they develop flowers.”
Nadia Hassani wrote on The Spruce website,
Small first-year seedlings can be removed by hand. After a rain when the soil is moist is best to remove the entire tap root. You might have to use a trowel or a shovel if the rosette is already big.
If you are dealing with a heavy infestation and a large area, mowing the infestation repeatedly helps to weaken the plants. Mowing must be done in the early summer before the plant has set seeds, otherwise you are dispersing the seeds even more. Mowing in the late summer after poison hemlock has gone into see[d] also poses a greater health hazard.
If you cannot get the infestation under control manually, it is best to use a broad-spectrum herbicide in the first year of the plant’s life cycle.7 Keep in mind that it will also kill all the other plants so apply it in a highly targeted way and when there is no wind to avoid herbicide drift. Applying an herbicide does not prevent seeds that are already in the soil from germinating (poison hemlock seeds remain viable for up to six years)8 so you will likely have to repeat the herbicide application when new seedlings emerge.
I hate to advocate for herbicide in any context. But look what can happen if you don’t get poison hemlock under control. This colony is growing in a retention basin just steps away from the parking lot of Clive elementary school, my alma mater (which is now called Clive Learning Academy). I’m talking about the taller plants that are turning yellow.
Here’s the view from the other direction. I believe the poison hemlock surrounding that cluster of eastern cottonwood trees in the background likely provided the seed base for the plants now growing in the retention basin. I’ve seen poison hemlock around those trees since I learned to identify the plant a decade or so ago.
As I mentioned above, poison hemlock does well on disturbed ground, so this European invader would have easily found a foothold after the West Des Moines school district built a circle drive behind Clive school.
Moving closer to those trees, which are growing next to the bike trail that runs through Windsor Heights along North Walnut Creek, you can see the poison hemlock more clearly.
Here are the candidates for High School on SI’s Iowa high school athlete of the week for April 13-18. Read through the nominees and cast your vote.
Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 26. The winner will be announced in the following week’s poll. Here are this week’s nominees:
Taylor Roose, Pella boys track and field
Roose competed in three events at the Norwalk Invitational, winning all three in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and long jump.
Daxon Kiesau, Urbandale boys track and field
Kiesau swept the throwing events at the Norwalk Invitational, taking first place in the shot put and the discus.
Alex Burger, Southeast Valley boys track and field
Competing at home, Burger dominated, earning four gold medals. He won the 400-meter hurdles and the long jump while running on the winning 4×200-meter relay and shuttle hurdle relay.
Kolby Hodnefield, Clear Lake boys track and field
Hodenfield, a defending state champion, broke the meet, venue and school record in the 200 and the 400 at the Clear Lake Invitational. He added victories as part of the 4×100 and 4×400 relays. Both relays also set meet records.
Easton Moon, North Polk boys tennis
Moon has started off his senior season on the courts unbeaten, winning all four matches while dropping just one game in 44 played.
Ava Lohrbach, Gilbert girls golf
One of the top golfers in the state, Lohrbach has had a hot start, firing a 35 in her nine-hole debut and a 72 for her 18-hole opener.
Nathan Manske, Algona boys golf
An elite quarterback and basketball player, Manske is showing his golfing skills this spring, coming out with a state-low 30 in a nine-hole event.
Ella Hein, Tipton girls track and field
Hein set school records in the 400-meter run and long jump at the Tiger/Tigerette Relays while also locking in the Blue Standard and qualifying for the Drake Relays. She won the long jump (18-6) and was second in the 400.
Maeve Bowen-Burt, Iowa City High girls track and field
The sophomore helped the Little Hawks land three Drake Relays events on the last night of qualifying, advancing in the 400 hurdles, along with the sprint medley and 4×400 relays.
About Our Athlete of the Week Voting
High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals. Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports. Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.
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The late boxing great George Foreman lies buried in a cemetery in the northwestern corner of Iowa – a place he has no connection to outside of a lone visit to the region nearly 40 years ago.
Foreman died March 21, 2025, at the age of 76 in Houston and was buried in Logan Park Cemetery at Sioux City, Iowa, a month later, city officials confirmed. Foreman’s family returned Thursday to his burial site, holding a news conference with Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott to reveal Foreman’s burial place, marked by a large monument that bears an image of him as a teen following his Olympic gold medal boxing win.
The family explained in a statement released by Sioux City officials that he had visited the Iowa city in 1988, and often recalled the sense of peace he experienced there.
After traveling to the city on April 17 last year to bury Foreman, his family said they immediately understood the region’s appeal.
“Our father lived a life of purpose, faith and gratitude,” the family said in a statement released by Sioux City officials. “To see him laid to rest in a place that brought him peace means everything to us.”
Scott joined the family at Foreman’s monument that lies just a few miles north of the Missouri River in an upper Midwest city of nearly 87,000 people. The cemetery overlooks the scenic Loess Hills, created by windblown silt deposits that reach up to 200 feet high (about 61 meters) and line the river along the Iowa border for 200 miles (322 kilometers).
“Their story is a reminder of how one place can stay with someone for a lifetime,” Scott said.
A native Texan, Foreman rose to fame when he made the 1968 U.S. Olympic boxing team, winning gold in Mexico City. He became the heavyweight champion of the world in 1973 by defeating the great Joe Frazier, only to lose the title a year later to Muhammad Ali in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle.”
A full 20 years later in 1994, Foreman became the oldest man to win the heavyweight championship at 45, defeating Michael Moorer in an epic upset.
Foreman retired in 1997 with a 76-5 career record.
He then moved on to the next chapter in his life as a businessman, pitchman and occasional actor, becoming known to a new generation as the face of the George Foreman Grill. The simple cooking machine sold more than 100 million units and brought him more wealth than boxing.
A biographical movie based on Foreman’s life was released in 2023.
Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) — About 50 Iowans braved the threat of severe storms to hear from Republican candidate for governor Zach Lahn at his town hall in Dubuque Friday night.
Lahn, a farmer and businessman, said his campaign is about solving the long-term systemic issues facing Iowans.
One priority is addressing what Lahn calls a cancer crisis in Iowa, as the state has the second-highest cancer rate in the country. Solving the crisis means ensuring Iowans have access to clean, nitrate-free drinking water, working with farmers to reduce agricultural runoff.
“Iowans are just ready for something that they should be able to count on, like clean drinking water,” Lahn said. “We have ways to clean up the drinking water in Iowa that isn’t on the backs of farmers, but is working alongside with them because they’re drinking the water too, and they want to do what’s right.”
Lahn also wants to stop Iowa’s “brain drain,” as more of Iowa’s college graduates left the state for opportunities elsewhere.
“Don’t leave! Give me some time! I’m going to fight to keep you here,” Lahn said. “I was one of these kids. I thought I had to leave the state to find something better. We have to prioritize Iowa’s incentive dollars to make sure they’re going to grow Iowa businesses that are going to be here for the long haul, so our kids have places to work.”
Running a distinct campaign feels challenging this election, as Lahn is one of five GOP candidates who want to be Iowa’s next governor, facing U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, former Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen, state Rep. Eddie Andrews and former state Rep. Brad Sherman.
Iowa Auditor Rob Sand is the only Democrat running for the state’s top office.
Lahn said he stands out by promising Iowa will be for Iowans, pledging to ban the use of eminent domain for private gain and tax out-of-state landowners and data centers at higher rates to lower property taxes.
“It always goes back to follow the money, so when it comes to not being a weak-kneed Republican today, I believe the paramount piece of that is answering only to the citizens of Iowa, not to special interests to pad their bottom line, but what’s best for the people of Iowa,” Lahn said.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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