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.
With June rapidly finishing up, that means the Iowa high school softball season is preparing to enter the stretch run of the year.
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union State Softball Tournament will begin Monday, July 20, in Fort Dodge at Rogers Park, bringing together many of the top teams and players in the state. High School On SI Iowa currently provides a Top 25 state softball power rankings, so now, we need to see who the top players are.
Below are the nominees for the High School On SI Iowa Class 1A Softball Midseason Player of the Year in each classification. Stats listed with the player are from Bound and based on those numbers imputed as of June 26, 2026 at noon CT.
Feel free to vote as many times as you like, with voting set to close on Friday, July 3, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. CT.
High School On SI Iowa Class 1A Softball Midseason Player Of The Year Nominees
Rachel Eglseder, Edgewood-Colesburg, Senior
Eglseder owns a 16-5 record, striking out 225 batters with a 1.66 earned run average while adding 11 extra-base hits and 40 RBI at the plate.
Rylee Mudderman, Kee, Junior
Mudderman continues to be a difficult out, batting .488 this season with two homers, 11 doubles and four triples. She has driven in 38 and scored 35 times, stealing 10 bases.
Faith Shirbroun, St. Edmond, Senior
Speaking of tough outs, Shirbroun owns a batting average of .606 this season, recording seven homers, 17 doubles and five triples. She has driven in 36 and scored 37 times, stealing 22 bases while setting several school records for hitting.
Sydney Lovrien, Clarksville, Senior
The ace for the defending state champions, Lovrien is 13-5 with 100 strikeouts in 86 innings pitched. She also has 23 hits and 21 RBI at the plate.
Sam Kruckenberg, Mason City Newman Catholic, Senior
A veteran now, Kruckenberg owns an 18-4 record with 227 strikeouts and a 1.23 earned run average. She is batting .440 with five homers, 11 doubles and 23 RBI at the plate.
About Our Midseason Player of the Year 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.
Follow
The Iowa chapter of the Land Improvement Contractors of America (LICA) officially opened a new facility on its 80-acre demonstration farm in Marshall County Thursday.
Iowa LICA President Scott Bohle said having classroom and meeting space will make it easier to educate the next generation of professional contractors, along with government employees, lawmakers and students, to help conserve soil and water in the state.
Bohle said the building “gives people a place to gather, collaborate and continue the important work that defines our association.”
Just outside the new space are wetlands, terraces, sediment control basins, bioreactors and other features, which members have built since LICA purchased the farm near Melbourne in 2000.
“We call it the one-stop shop, where you can see anything being put to practice by our landowners,” said Kelby Kiefer, executive director of Iowa LICA.
Together, these “edge-of-field” practices remove 50% of phosphates and almost 100% of the nitrates from the runoff of a 1,000-plus acre watershed, according to the association.
Adding more wetlands, saturated buffers and bioreactors across the state are a key part of Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy. It aims to cut nitrogen and phosphorus losses from farm fields by 41% and 29%, respectively.
The strategy is part of a broader effort to reduce nutrient pollution in the state’s waterways and the Gulf of Mexico by 45% compared to the 1980-96 baseline period. It does not include a target date.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said the state has accelerated edge-of-field practices in recent years, in part through the Batch and Build model. The approach bundles projects in a targeted watershed to reduce costs and save time for farmers and contractors.
Nearly 150 nitrate reducing wetlands and around 500 saturated buffers, bioreactors and multi-purpose oxbows had been built in the state as of 2024. Thousands more will be needed to meet the state’s nutrient reduction targets.
“[Clean water is] something we need to be focused on, and we can be proud of the work that’s happened, but we know that we need to do more,” Naig said. “Buildings like this help.”
Naig said scaling up conservation infrastructure across the state will require more skilled contractors. He described them as the “critical link” between concepts and “getting things on the ground.”
“It’s from that point where you say, ‘We have a design that’s ready to go, a willing landowner,’ but somebody needs to make it happen,” Naig said. “The land improvement contractor sits in that very important spot.”
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Mark Roering returned to Iowa City Regina 30 years after serving as an assistant coach, and in just two seasons, he has transformed the Regals into one of Class 2A’s most dangerous teams.
“I was a senior in college. I just had finished playing baseball myself and was doing high school in the summers. Had one of those magical seasons here losing in the state finals,” Roering said. “I was just ready for something new.”
Prior to being hired at Iowa City Regina in 2024, Roering coached nine seasons at Dowling Catholic, where he helped the Maroons reach the state tournament six times. Regina was below .500 in three of the four seasons before his arrival. His first season at the helm, Regina went 22-6.
“I think the biggest difference is practice. Everybody is so much more locked in. Really that just comes from him. He gets on us everyday, he has to make the drive and hour and a half every day so we want to give that back to him for all the time and effort he’s put into us,” junior Trey Streb said.
Streb also described Roering as a very emotional coach who cares deeply about the team and winning.
The Regals’ bats have become a significant threat. Regina ranks fifth in the state and second in Class 2A with a .379 batting average and has the fourth fewest strikeouts among state teams.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced and it’s been super competitive and it’s nice to be with people who want to win and will do whatever it takes to win,” senior Emmett Burke said.
The team already sits at 20 wins with eight regular season games remaining.
Roering said the transformation comes when players start believing they can win in any situation.
“Winning is contagious just like losing is contagious,” Roering said. “Kids they start believing and it gets really dangerous you know that they can win no matter what situation they’re in.”
The turnaround has positioned the Regals to make a postseason run. With only one senior on the roster, the team could remain a threat next season.
“No matter what, we’re going to fight and we’re not going to roll over. We’re going to do what we need to do to win,” Burke said.
“We’re big competitors. We don’t accept defeat and I think that’s one of my favorite parts about this team,” Streb added.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
-
Atlanta, GA2 minutes agoHow to watch San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves
-
Minneapolis, MN5 minutes agoMan, 19, hospitalized after shooting in north Minneapolis; no arrests
-
Indianapolis, IN17 minutes agoMan’s body found in White River in downtown Indianapolis
-
Pittsburg, PA20 minutes agoSouth Side Street Fest adds more metal detectors and ID scanner to speed up lines
-
Augusta, GA25 minutes agoAugusta Pride celebration moves to fairgrounds amid Broad Street construction
-
Washington, D.C32 minutes agoStates show their stuff: The Great American State Fair opens in D.C.
-
Cleveland, OH35 minutes agoColt Emerson Leads Mariners Past Guardians In Return to Ohio – WHIZ – Fox 5 / Marquee Broadcasting
-
Austin, TX40 minutes agoPaxton says Austin energy code breaks state law
