Knoxville — Officials say the invasive plant called Giant Hogweed is moving toward Tennessee.
Many of you say you've seen the plant growing in our area. We also had lots of comments about giant hogweed on our Facebook page.
Many comments said they thought they saw the dangerous weed around Tennessee, including Janet Smith Fugate. So we went to investigate.
The elderberry plant is behind Fugate's fence at her home in Powell.
"Yes, this is elderberry," President of the Tennessee Invasive Plant Council Kitty McCracken said.
It looks like giant hogweed, but McCracken says it's not.
"It is nothing like giant hogweed," McCracken said. "It actually fruits and people can make wine out of the fruit."
She says one big difference is the leaves of the plants.
"A hogweed leaf is not like this, it's huge, it's a very spiky leaf."
Stevie Marie, another person who commented, thought she saw giant hogweed on Chapman Highway this weekend.
She said it looked like Queen Anne's Lace on steroids.
But McCracken says it was probably just a tall Queen Anne's Lace plant--not Giant Hogweed, which can grow 15 feet high.
"When you think of giant, think of a really huge plant," McCracken said. "It's not a little five foot tall plant, it gets much bigger."
We also got questions about where Giant Hogweed was located in Tennessee.
McCracken says it's not in the state, but other experts have said it's been found in a few places.
She says the council calls Giant Hogweed an "emerging threat" because it's been found near the North Carolina border.
"What we do is talk to experts across the state that have an herbarium with samples of each plant that has been positively identified and we record where each of these plants are found," McCracken said.
McCracken said if you do find giant hogweed, you should give the UT Agriculture extension office a call in Knoxville. That number is 865-974-7114.
Be sure not to touch it.
If you want to kill it, just use regular weed killer.