hi greenlust,
i have not had an allergic reaction to my ficus tree, but i do get an allergic reaction from the wildflowers that grow in my yard. the reaction is similar to what you described, itchy skin with little hives. all i have to do is brush up against the plants. seems like the lupins and desert bluebells cause most of the reactions. it has only been the last few years that i have broken out in hives, and seems like each year they get worse. :(

Since ficus have such thick foliage and are evergreen, a lot of the pollen that floats around during the spring sticks to the leaves. The same is true of oleander-people think they are allergic to oleander but it's the other plants pollen that lands on the large leaves that they are allergic to.

Many people have reactions to the latex of the ficus plant group. Reactions can vary in severity. Here's how I react to the sap of figs on my skin. It looks like scratches, but it's just where the broken stems of the Ficus carica rubbed on my skin. I wasn't even aware of it at the time. Blistery lesions appeared in about 24 hours. This photo was taken 2 weeks later!
{{gwi:406057}}

wow! quite a reaction. that does make sense that one could be allergic to the latex in the sap. guess i haven't thought of that...

dave, thats the same scratch mark i had on my neck the day i had the ficus nitida allergy reaction. I couldnt figure how the scratch mark came as i didnt feel any pain. Now i think the scratch mark must be from the sap like you mentioned. My doctor said the next allergy reaction will be even more severe. Anyways my 2 ficus trees died in the winter freeze.

Sorry to hear about the figs dying. I know you had a particularly nasty freeze. Many Arizonans posted pictures.

Yes, I think my sensitivity to fig latex has gotten a bit worse over the years. I just hope I can still enjoy eating the fruit! When I prune them again, I'll do it in the dormant season when the sap is not running as much--and I'll wear more protective clothing.

It took me several years before I made the connection between the lesions and fig latex exposure. I thought at first I had gotten poison ivy from the dog. But I only found one tiny p. ivy plant in the back yard, so had to rule that out.

Then I saw a posting on the fig forum about a similar case and that cleared up the mystery.

Brazilian pepper tree also causes itching, lesions. Many articles on the ent mentioned this. Direct contact with exudate from the trunk causes severe itching, the lesions sometimes resembling second degree burns. Member of the same family as poison ivy.
I have a Brazilian pepper tree, so it could have been the culprit and not the ficus.

The Brazilian Peppers are NASTY; they are in the same family as sumac and ivy. Sap causes skin lesions, pollen causes respiratory distress, and burning the wood can send you to the emergency room.

March, 2013, I am not a botanist or an allergist. In winter 2011 my nine Ficus nitida trees froze just deep enough to kill the leaves and smaller branches. The larger branches lived and new growth occurred after several months. During the months that the dead leaves and thin dead branches began to break down, I came down with a terrible respiratory problem. The respiratory problem hit everyone in my household and recovery took months. Friends and neighbors in the Phoenix area described similar respiratory problems. None of us or anyone we knew thought about the F. nitida decaying in the air. We all recovered and in the winter of 2012-2013 the F. nitidas froze again. One morning a few months after the freeze, while sitting on the patio I saw what I thought was mist swirling and blowing through the yard. I discovered that the breeze was taking some sort of dust out of the dead parts of the trees. Large amounts of dust I should add. It hadn’t been too long since the last rain and we hadn’t had any dust storms to fill the trees with dirt. The trees should have been relatively clean compared with summer dust conditions. I thought little of it until later that day when I was working on one of the trees and became aware that I was breathing a lot of their dust and shortly became very sick. It reminded me of being sick 2 years before because the symptoms were the same. I believe it’s possible that as the plant material breaks down to small particles the particles become airborne and wreak havoc on our lungs. Here is an article about F. nitida and how dangerous toxins are trapped by their leaves then released when they die and break down.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FB%3AWATE.0000026521.99552.fd?LI=true#

Unfortunately, it’ time for my trees to go.

Bob

Here is a link that might be useful: Capture of Particulate Pollution by Trees:

My whole family has some kind of allergy to something in the air and we still have little idea why to do about it. Didn't have any before AZ. I hear it's gotten worse for many people lately with all the new plants.

In February, the usual culprit is Juniper or Cedar. The pollen usually comes from up north -- the spread can be up to 400 miles.

In March, especially mid to late March, it's mulberries.

In April, it's grasses and olive trees.

In the early fall, it's ragweed and other weeds.

I guess I'm allergic to Juniper, Cedar, Mulberries, Grasses, olive Trees, and ragweed then because it's been non-stop!

Not every reaction to contact with a plant is an "allergic" reaction. Just about every plant known to man can cause a reaction of some kind and this list may send you to the silk plant store!

Here is a link that might be useful: Plants and their properties

Turns out you can even be allergic to your lacquered furniture! It all has to do with a plant component called urushiol.

Here is a link that might be useful: Skin reactions to plants