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 DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Watch your step when you pull off the road: That's the warning from Iowa environmental officials to help people avoid a burning, blistering itch that could last for months.
Wild parsnip — native to Eurasia and nothing like the namesake root vegetable that adorns entrees at restaurants — is an invasive weed that is spreading along Iowa's highways and can cause rashes, blisters, burning and itching.
"If you get off of the mowed areas and into the taller grass areas, you're probably going to come into some contact with wild parsnip," said John Walkowiak, land protection leader with the state Department of Natural Resources.
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