Plants causing skin blistering - in UK (not just nettles!)
 

Hi,

I was gardening in a T-shirt, wearing gardening gloves, and a weed
cutting fell on my wrist. There was no immediate reaction but the
next morning it got very itchy and came up in blisters, and took over
a week to go away.

I've heard about poison ivy, but I thought that was an American plant.
What are the plants in the UK I should be wary of, besides nettles?
It didn't look like giant hogweed, and was quite small.

Thanks,
Dave.

Plants causing skin blistering - in UK (not just nettles!)
 

In article ,
Dave wrote:
Hi,

I was gardening in a T-shirt, wearing gardening gloves, and a weed
cutting fell on my wrist. There was no immediate reaction but the
next morning it got very itchy and came up in blisters, and took over
a week to go away.

I've heard about poison ivy, but I thought that was an American plant.
What are the plants in the UK I should be wary of, besides nettles?
It didn't look like giant hogweed, and was quite small.

Thanks,
Dave.


Not much to go on - but Richard Mabey in "Flora Brittanica" says that other
members of the Apiaceae contain the same irritants, it's just that Giant
Hogweed has more of them! Some memebers of the buttercup family also do
this - I'm thinking of Monkshood, which is a garden plant - but it's
possible that others do and there are a lot of Ranuculaceae weeds.

Howard Clase

Plants causing skin blistering - in UK (not just nettles!)
 

In article ,
Dave wrote:

I was gardening in a T-shirt, wearing gardening gloves, and a weed
cutting fell on my wrist. There was no immediate reaction but the
next morning it got very itchy and came up in blisters, and took over
a week to go away.

I've heard about poison ivy, but I thought that was an American plant.
What are the plants in the UK I should be wary of, besides nettles?
It didn't look like giant hogweed, and was quite small.

In a seed catalog of unusual plants I read a disclaimer to the effect
that for any plant, there's someone, somewhere who is allergic to
it, and for any person, there's a plant somewhere that will give them
the kind of reaction you describe. Possibly you've met your match!

Were you using any agricultural chemicals? People sometimes get dermatitis
from the components other than pesticides in these products.

You could also have been bitten or stung by an insect or spider. It's
not uncommon for the reaction to take hours to develop, especially if
it's an extreme reaction like the one you had.

You might consider wearing long sleeves, especially if it happens again.
If you figure out what caused it, post here and let us know.

(Hm, now that I think of it, Primula malacoides causes this kind of skin
reaction in many people, and you Brits are into primroses, right?)

Plants causing skin blistering - in UK (not just nettles!)
 

"Howard Clase" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Dave wrote:
Hi,

I was gardening in a T-shirt, wearing gardening gloves, and a weed
cutting fell on my wrist. There was no immediate reaction but the
next morning it got very itchy and came up in blisters, and took over
a week to go away.

I've heard about poison ivy, but I thought that was an American plant.
What are the plants in the UK I should be wary of, besides nettles?
It didn't look like giant hogweed, and was quite small.

Thanks,
Dave.


Not much to go on - but Richard Mabey in "Flora Brittanica" says that
other
members of the Apiaceae contain the same irritants, it's just that Giant
Hogweed has more of them! Some memebers of the buttercup family also do
this - I'm thinking of Monkshood, which is a garden plant - but it's
possible that others do and there are a lot of Ranuculaceae weeds.

Howard Clase
Thanks for the leads. I've had a look today at what has grown back, and it
looks like nettles, but miniature ones. Here are some pictures:

http://www.dmccol.freeserve.co.uk/large1.jpg (1.6 MB)
http://www.dmccol.freeserve.co.uk/large2.jpg
http://www.dmccol.freeserve.co.uk/small1.jpg (0.25M)
http://www.dmccol.freeserve.co.uk/small2.jpg

Anyway it seems to have cured my cold, like on the TV advert!

Dave.

Plants causing skin blistering - in UK (not just nettles!)
 

wrote in message
...
In article ,
Dave wrote:

snip
In a seed catalog of unusual plants I read a disclaimer to the effect
that for any plant, there's someone, somewhere who is allergic to
it, and for any person, there's a plant somewhere that will give them
the kind of reaction you describe. Possibly you've met your match!

Were you using any agricultural chemicals? People sometimes get
dermatitis
from the components other than pesticides in these products.

You could also have been bitten or stung by an insect or spider. It's
not uncommon for the reaction to take hours to develop, especially if
it's an extreme reaction like the one you had.

You might consider wearing long sleeves, especially if it happens again.
If you figure out what caused it, post here and let us know.

(Hm, now that I think of it, Primula malacoides causes this kind of skin
reaction in many people, and you Brits are into primroses, right?)
Hi,
I haven't used any chemicals, but will certainly give the remains of the
plant a good dose of Roundup.

I will be wearing long sleeves next time.
Dave.

Plants causing skin blistering - in UK (not just nettles!)
 

In article , Dave
writes
Hi,

I was gardening in a T-shirt, wearing gardening gloves, and a weed
cutting fell on my wrist. There was no immediate reaction but the
next morning it got very itchy and came up in blisters, and took over
a week to go away.

I've heard about poison ivy, but I thought that was an American plant.
What are the plants in the UK I should be wary of, besides nettles?
It didn't look like giant hogweed, and was quite small.

Thanks,
Dave.

Rue has a reputation for causing problems. The sap of hellebores and
euphorbias, IIRC, can cause problems, and there are weedy euphorbias.

Beyond that, some people find the hairs of all sorts of plants irritant.
(Alcea - Hollyhock - is listed in the Botanical Dermatological Database,
and I have an anecdotal report of problems with Lavatera - presuming my
correspondent identified the plant correctly.)
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Plants causing skin blistering - in UK (not just nettles!)
 

Xref: 127.0.0.1 sci.bio.botany:21937


"Dave" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I was gardening in a T-shirt, wearing gardening gloves, and a weed
cutting fell on my wrist. There was no immediate reaction but the
next morning it got very itchy and came up in blisters, and took over
a week to go away.

I've heard about poison ivy, but I thought that was an American plant.
What are the plants in the UK I should be wary of, besides nettles?
It didn't look like giant hogweed, and was quite small.

Thanks,
Dave.

I now believe the plant is sticky willow, but I haven't been able to find
it's scientific name. (A plant that has seeds that can stick to clothes.)
If someone can tell me its proper name I can do more reading up about it.

Thanks again.

Plants causing skin blistering - in UK (not just nettles!)
 

I now believe the plant is sticky willow, but I haven't been able to find
it's scientific name. (A plant that has seeds that can stick to clothes.)
If someone can tell me its proper name I can do more reading up about it.

Galium aparine, but I don't see it in your photographs. (Whorled
foliage, hairy stems (will also stick to clothes) and small white
flowers.) The 'standard' vernacular name is cleavers. I knew it as
sticky willow as a kid, but I've elsewhere seen it as sticky willy.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Plants causing skin blistering - in UK (not just nettles!)
 

"Stewart Robert Hinsley" wrote in message
...

I now believe the plant is sticky willow, but I haven't been able to find
it's scientific name. (A plant that has seeds that can stick to clothes.)
If someone can tell me its proper name I can do more reading up about it.

Galium aparine, but I don't see it in your photographs. (Whorled
foliage, hairy stems (will also stick to clothes) and small white
flowers.) The 'standard' vernacular name is cleavers. I knew it as
sticky willow as a kid, but I've elsewhere seen it as sticky willy.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately it has all gone for recycling. The
pictures may be nettles, which could be have caused the problems, or just
confusing the issue. However, with nettles I thought you knew immediately if
you were stung. Also the irritation was much worse than a regular nettle,
and the rash came up the next day.

I put the pictures up because they look like miniature nettles, or maybe
they are just small.