Heracleum mantegazzianum, or giant hogweed, spreads easily and is poisonous. (CBC)

Halifax residents worried they may have the toxic giant hogweed on their property should address the problem, the city says.

The Halifax Regional Municipality has released advice for residents if they find the plant — and warns that the poisonous weed is just one of several invasive species the city needs to deal with.

The plant, which can lead to severe burns, has been identified in Nova Scotia since the 1980s, but recent media attention to its spread throughout the province has heightened concerns.

The city's website says residents concerned about possible hogweed on their property should contact botanist Marian Munro at the Nova Scotia Museum for confirmation, then arrange for a professional landscaper to deal with the problem.

The website also carries a detailed description of the plant, which can grow up to five metres in height and have leaves half that size.

Andrew Wheelock, of Weed Man, said he's been consulting with his counterparts in Ontario, where the plant has been found in Ottawa and Renfrew County, west of the capital. Wheelock said even with pesticide use it could take a property owner an entire growing season to get rid of the plant.

Halifax officials are consulting with other levels of government on how best to deal with the plant. HRM will put aside its own pesticide rules when dealing with the plant on its property, it says. The rules include provisions that ban applying pesticides when the temperature is above 27 C, or spraying pesticides on plants taller than two metres when there is even a slight wind.

Halifax's environment management office plans to draw up a proposal to deal with giant hogweed and other invasive species near Halifax and present it to regional council this fall.

Other invasive species causing problems include the Japanese knotwood, which aggressively pushes out other forest plants if it's not controlled, and European fire ants, according to the city's release. The municipality recently bought several dozen traps to deal with fire ants on its property.