It is often confused with its native relative, the common hogweed.

Daniel Logan stung his ankle on a giant hogweed in Boston Manor Park, west London, while retrieving a football.

Overnutrition harms the wildlife and biodiversity by attracting nitrogen-loving plants such as nettles, hogweed and hemlock, which are known to spread fast, according to the study.

That quiet emptiness, the enormity of Russia, has been infiltrated in recent decades by an alien force: the giant hogweed.

“Finding Persian hogweed was a turning point for me,” he said.