In article .com,
"Sacha" writes:
|
| However, you say that the sap isn't life-threatening but that is one
| of the most toxic plants going. A friend of ours ended up in hospital
| after contact with it. He had horrible blisters and three years later,
| the areas of his skin affected, still react badly to exposure to
| sunlight. It's definitely not a plant to take lightly or to recommend
| to others, IMO. Anyway, Hayley, I'm sorry - that was a mistake on my
| part.

I would (and did) take the "chemical burn" plants more seriously than
the "poisonous" ones. If a child gets the sap on its hands, and rubs
its eyes, that could be VERY bad news. And that is actually a likely
scenario, unlike a child munching random unpalatable leaves, digging
up and eating roots etc.

Unfortunately, there are a fair number of such plants. Giant hogweed
is one; all sumachs and euphorbias are others - and the last include
petty spurge (a very common weed) and the house plant "poinsettia".
Also periwinkles, but mere touch isn't enough to reach the sap.

Incidentally, I never did confuse Hayley with anyone, but did (and do)
feel that she should and could have checked in a book or elsewhere on
the Web to find out that quinces are NOT poisonous.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.