Ah yes, I've been there. The spurge I have doesn't seem to spread like that, but it doees cause a rash in certain people, including me. I was on the phone with poison control last fall and in serious misery. Someone told me not everyone has this reaction - but those who do are pretty miserable.

When I have removed my spurge, it stays removed. I wish I could see your picture to know if it's a relative of the one I have. (We're getting the red x on your pic) I have given away a lot of it with the caution to avoid the white sap.

I was going to bring a few to the swap - maybe I shouldn't huh? potted up 10 plugs of blue fescue - now they're covered in snow.

Ouch!!! Alison...that sounds awful. I've never had spurge. If I get some..I'll be careful. Thanks for the warning.

Bakemom..go ahead and bring them to the swap. But, mark them that they ( the sap) can cause a rash to some people. Then people are forewarned and can choose them or not.

(When I bring Monkshood to a swap I always mark that it is poisonous)

..Beverly

It's interesting; I've been doing some research on the web and I haven't found the plague warnings I expected. Maybe it's not a problem for other people? Or maybe I really am cursed, and it's just going insane in my yard!

I'm pretty sure it's Euphorbia lathyris. Also known as Gopher, caper or myrtle spurge. Here's the best picture I could find.

{{gwi:1070968}}
Now that I think about it, I think I've seen it sold as a way to control moles. (The roots, like everything else about it, are toxic.) How did you guys get rid of it? Just rip it up?

If you like the plant, and it's good for you, then definitely bring it to the swap, Karen. I bring mints, lemon balm, sweet woodruff and rue. I always tape a label on the first three as invasive, and the later as a possible irritant, and I always try to talk to the people who pick them up, to let them know what my experience has been. But once they know.....

Hmmmm. I actually have found a plant I don't like!

I think that's the same spurge - I just pull the darm thing up and it's gone. One of my gardening books talks about that plant and says it's an irritant to some people.

Anyone else get a rash from this plant? It really is beautiful in the spring and an interesting border plant for hot dry sun. The only time I have trouble is when I prune a mature plant and don't thoroughly wash my hands. Same with pine trees and other such sap producing plants as well.

But then again, I'm one of those people allergic to everything.

Wow Alison! Sounds like you have an ordeal alright! I'll add that plant to my "don't you dare buy that!" list.
So what's the moral to this story?

1) Don't plant bulbs in January, and by all means, 2)Get the roses in the ground before they die! ARGGGGGG! LOL
Better days are ahead for sure.
T

Bake mom, I'll be snagging some euphorbia if I don't already have the variety. :)

I don't get a rash, but it makes my hands itch almost immediately. I use plastic bags to cover my hands when I work with euphorbias. I used surgical gloves once, lol! I didn't get a rash, but I never realized that my skin was getting rubbed raw until after I took the gloves off. Ouch!

My grandmother used to grow a euphorbia that looks just like the one in your second post, Alison. It was petite and had very good manners, but it didn't survive the move to my garden. I tried trading for a euphorbia that looked the same, but sure doesn't act the same! I've been fighting it for two years. I thought I had it all last fall, but this spring it's everywhere. I may resort to roundup for this one.

http://yucca.standardout.com/pics/Happenstance_1061708010_614.jpg

I could only see the pic. after pasting the link and going directly to it. Hope you don't mind that I put it up for people to copy and paste.

That's one scary story! Thanks for sharing it!

Something in my yard got me - I have poison ivy like hives on my ankles and the back of my knees - itchy itchy yuck. I'm also one of those people who is allergic to everything. I have just given up and mechanically reach for my meds.

Can you get poison ivy this early in the season? I wonder where it was. If it isn't PI - what else would cause such a reaction?

There is someone on the perennials forum asking questions about it. Here's the link.

It's NOT the same one as I have - mine is more like a plant and not ground cover. Is this the same as your Alison?

Here is a link that might be useful: euphorbia question

Thank you for the warning. I hope people read this who will be attending future swaps will be very forthcoming at the time of trade if you have a potentially problematic plant. You can't research a plant at the time you are trading it. To get home and do the research only to find out you can't or should not plant something seems like an unfair trade. You may want to try Boron to kill the Spurge but nothing will grow in the area for 9 months. I did read that healthy soil with grass that is planted overseeded will choke it out. Ryegrass is fast grower and considered a cover crop to enrich the soil.

Here is a link that might be useful: Boron Formula

I can't really see the leaves on that E. cyparissias, but that does look like it. And to think I've been maligning E. lathyrus...

I found this engraving of it. I never got red "flowers", but it looks pretty similar to what I have. Same feathery, needle-like leaves. Spent some time this weekend raking the bed I cleared it from, bringing up a lot more. The strip of spurge where I sprayed the killz-all is looking healthy, too. God help me!

Here's mine. Still can be an irritant.

Here is a link that might be useful: myrtle euphorbia

"Can you get poison ivy this early in the season?"

yes...I get it any season that I am outside digging around. The vines are even tougher to recognize when the leaves have fallen off. In the winter,I usually dont recognize that I have touched PI until I have a nice hand full of vines.

You can even get it from clothes that touched it. I had a friend who came down with a bad case one winter. He hadn't been near the garden and was stumped as to how he'd been exposed until he remembered that he had cleared out the basement and was folding and refolding the camping equipment from that summer -- when he'd also picked up a bad rash!

I was out in the yard attempting to clean beds and tend to winter sowing jugs - right where the PI had reared its ugly head in the past. On two ankles and then to the back of knees clearly scratched in there.

Since I wasn't sure if it was my horrible allergies or something else I didn't take the proper precautions and I have a few stray blisters on my leg clearing up. YUUUCK.

New member here. Was checking on Myrtle Spurge (aka Donkey's Tail or Burro's tail) and found this entry. Thought I'd warn you that in certain areas of the USA it is considered a NOXIOUS weed--meaning it's against the law.

It is the one posted by Alison (poor gal) in the second post. Not only can it be toxic to the skin but if ingested can cause serious vomiting/diarrhea according to what I found yesterday about noxious weeds. We dug/pulled all ours out yesterday! I'd had it for years and it had indeed spread but where I had it the spread wasn't going too far.

But it is also in our country/family cemetery 1/2 mile from here and the county weed lady came and told us about it. After Memorial Day it will be gotten out of there as there already is a plant in the hay field surrounding it. I was getting very tired of pulling little "babies" out of everywhere and was thinking of getting rid of it. And, voila, there was the order!!! We couldn't spray it with anything because it was under a 100+ yr old tree!

It's a popular item for xeriscape gardening. The cemetery where it is gets no other water than what God sends and we're in a severe drought here on the plains of NE Colorado and it's still going strong up there!Do be careful with it and don't "spread" it around.

COgardengal

Alison,
I think that you got the spurge from us at the first Hilliard swap. I think that I remember you saying last year, that you really liked it. We didn't know that it was invasive when we first got it. But when it started spreading like crazy, we dug it up and put it places where it would be contained. We have told people that we have traded it with that it is invasive, and recommend planting it in a buried container, or someplace where it will be contained. Luckily, we have not had any bad reactions to it. I was doing some research on it last year, and saw that spurge has caused some major agricultural problems out west. It is taking over many grazing fields, and the cattle can't eat it. It bothers their digestive system. I am not sure if it is the same species of spurge that I have, but they all seem to be invasive and toxic to some people and animals. I didn't take any to swaps this year and probably will not in the future. We have enough plants to trade that we don't need to give someone a plant that might cause them that much trouble. Since we have been able to keep the spurge under control for us, and it isn't causing any of us problems, we will keep growing it ourselves.
James

I think perhaps it's simply punishing me!

I was amazed to read this. Thank God I must not be one of the ones allergic to it; yesterday I spent 1 hour digging and pulling this out of an elderly friends yard. She didn't know where it came from but it was all through her ivy.

I have enough health problems; I am so grateful I didn't develop the rashes!Naturally, I didn't have any of my 12 pairs of gloves on either.

I too have had an experience with a spurge. I bought it from a fellow perrenial grower and was listed as Euphorbia Spurge. I live near Buffalo and it is December here. The other night Me and some friends had a bon fire in my yard and I was drinkin a little. I had this urge to do a little winter clean up and pulled some half dead plants to burn! Well one of those was the Euphorbia Spurge! I only used my left hand to pull it because the other hand was holding a drink. I broke it into a few peices. Either way the next morning my left hand felt kind of paralyzed. The tips of my fingers were swollen and almost numb! Today is day 3 and I can still feel the effects! I have been researching the plant and have found that the plant that I have is called "Snow on the Mountain" or very simular looking. I am hoping that because of the brutal winter that we have the seeds won't survive because I remember seeing alot of seeds! Well anyway here's a new rule to live by...Never Drink and Garden! peace...magicman

magicman...I can't even comprehend drinking without gardening...I can garden without drinking but definitely not the opposite. My cushion spurge makes a wonderful backdrop to the scotch broom & yellow tulips I have grouped with him. Perhaps the Ohio Valley is nicer here in Louisville?
Carol

I have been researching all day, and have found that this is the plant that has given me so much grief today. I was out at Walmart yesterday shopping clothes, etc. and I saw some no name perennials that were $1. This one looked interesting and I put it in the cart with my sleeping 6 month old. A few minutes later I saw that he had woken and grabbed this plant and chewed it. There were afew drops of white mily stuff on his sheek that I just wiped off and thought checked his mouth, nothing in it, and thought nothing more of it. WELL, this morning he woke up with a open sore the size of a quarter on his cheek, it was seeping and gross. It looked like a CHEMICAL BURN! I took him to the doctor who dressed it and reassured me. He asked me to find out what the plant is and that is what I have spent a whole day doing, while I wasn't bawling my eyes out about having scarred my precious perfect baby boy. I thought maybe it was stonecrop (that's why I bought it)but was corrected at the Greenhouse where I finally had to go for an answer. After some deliberation between the staff, one thought maybe it was a type of spurge (due to the white sap. Nothing in their books was a perfect match. Well, now I ahd some new info and hit the web again. AND IT IS MYRTLE SPURGE! I hope and pray that it will heal well as it's right on the apple of his cheek. I'm also thankful that I left the plant at the greenhouse and didn't even consider paltning it as I see that I would have had a more time consuming problem on my hands, phew. I'll have to call the greenhouse tomorrow and tell them what it is and to get rid of it safely, no need for them to get it through everything and go broke! I ahve to go back daily now and get this wound dressed by the doctor. What a horrible day it's been.

Moral of the story, ...hmmmm...dont' put unknown plants in babies reach!

Yikes! That's scary, diana! I hope you're son is okay. I'm sure it will heal alright, but it's the kind of thing that scares the willies out of you.

hmmmm. I'm really shaking in my boots now..... I grew euphorbia myrtensis (donkey tail) in my garden in CT without it being rampant or invaisive...I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who don't have a problem touching this thing.

I did, however, pick up something which was labled "sunflower" at the Hilliard swap...bluish green leaves, looks like it may be a euphorbia and it is about three feet high. I asked who brought it and what it was...no one said anything. Now I'm wondering if this is the invaisive thingy....I'll try to take a picture and post it...this one was in a clearish plastic cup. Ring any bells anyone?

I know that what is invaisive in some people's garden isn't in others, depending on the conditions...In fact, people seem to be growing clustered bellflower here (campanula glomerata) at least in my neighborhood without it strangling anything.....whereas in CT, although we had acid, not alkaline clay, I had it throttle rudebekia....that shows you how nutsy it was....

Please guys, I could use a little hand holding here....

Post your picture, see if I recognize it.

MY son is much better now. His cheek is still red, but fading. The raw spots under his lip is all healed and you can't see it anymore. Thanks to God!!

Three feet high? Not my spurge. I have a huge rash on my leg right now from spurge. It's healing up, but it sure did sting for a while there.

Not to worry, it heals and is fine. It's very ugly and looks worse than it is. I had marks for months last time. I still have the plant and I plan to grab my gloves and a trash bag and remove the babies. Just got to be careful. Can't drink drano either. There you go.

I noticed this cute little plant growing on my front lawn a couple years after we purchased our home in 1973. We usually just mowed them down when we cut the lawn. They strayed put, BUT the front lawn is shady and pretty much the only other thing that grows well there is moss. Then a few years ago I needed something for a filler in one of my perennial gardens. It seemed like a good solution. Unfortunately, that garden is in full sun. The year after I planted them I was pleased with their progress. Then I just couldn't turn it off! As it got out of control, I covered that area with black plastic and weed stop fabric. That slowed it down but didn't kill it off. I'm still pulling it out. Apparently, the full sun is what made the difference. Maybe this stuff would be ok in the shade. I just read that you should burn the dead vegetation because they also spread by seed. OOPS, didn't think of this. Good Luck!

I just found this site, and have read all the comments, as I sit here trying not to scratch my hands, arms and face. I cut back my myrtle spurge yesterday. I had showered and washed after gardening yesterday. This is the second and worse reaction I have had after contact with myrtle spurge. The first time I didn't know what caused the poison ivy-like reaction. But now I do! I will be removing it - NO!, I will have my husband remove the plant asap.

My neighbor had some succulent and it was growing in large blankets across her property. In fact little shoots of it would sometimes come up on my property. She encouraged me to take some and grow it. No warning was given to me. So I put a small bit in a part of my property and it grew over the summer to 18" square by 12" high. It was crowding the coral bells next to it so yesterday I went and cut it back. I may have gotten some of the milky white sap that came out of it on my hands. I knew that milky white latex sap is prolly not something I want on my skin so I tried to keep it off my skin. After I was done with my pruning I came inside, took the gloves off and washed my hands. Then I went and ate my subway sandwich. Two hours later at 10pm I got some slight burning around my mouth. It got worse 4/10 then worse 5-6/10. By 11:30 the pain was now at 8/10 and my entire face, cheeks, mouth area were on fire. I racked my brain of what it was thinking there was something on my sandwich or I had some sort of anaphalaxis to something I ate. Finally I retraced the night and googled "white sap" and found out that I had been exposed to Myrtle Spurge or Donkey Tail spurge.. "Euphorbia Myrsinitis." I drove to the ER and they didn't know much about it. They gave me Oxycodone and had no idea what to apply topically to help it. I went home and the burning was still persistent. I took one oxy and that helped bring the pain down so I could sleep.

The second day(today) as I write this the burning pain as finally subsided to just a very fried/burnt feeling on my face. Spurge is highly toxic and should be avoided in all gardens

If you have this plant
on your property remove it by digging underneath it and lifting it into a
lined trash can. Do not break the plant up because the milky sap is a
natural latex resin that carries a cytotoxin. Cytotoxins are in venomous spiders and snakes. The sap burns the skin far worse than OC/Mace/Pepper spray and takes days to go away.

I got Tecnu poison ivy extreme care and oxies from the doctor for the
pain. This plant is no joke. It's killed dogs, cats and children. It
should not be on your property! And oddly enough it's common around
central oregon where I live. It's considered a noxious weed as it grows quickly and is difficult to remove.

EXTREME WARNING:!!!!!
The
neurotoxin of these plants is a Resiniferatoxin or RTX, and is very, very,
dangerous. It is an extremely irritant agent and is the most pungent/spicy
substance in the world, much more than ANY chili pepper where the
spicy agent is the Capsaicin of
16 million Heat Units. Indeed this oleoresin is so powerful that
it destroys the nervous pain receptors for ever! It has more than 15 Billion Scoville Heat Units and is 1000 times hotter than Capsaicin.

TREATMENT:
If you get this on your skin use a dish soap to wash the affected area continuously for a minmum of 30 minutes. Try not to rub the area much, rather splash the dish soapy water on affected area. The idea here is to let the dish soap break down the oleoresin which is a medium for the cytotoxin. The oleoresin is most irritating to mucus membranes and the sensitive skin around the genitals, mouth, lips, ears, nose and of course eyes. If you get this in your eyes flush your eyes with tap water immediately several times then get to the ER as fast as possible. If treated quickly one can avoid permanent damage to the eye. On skin the pain usually goes away in 48-72 hours. The pain can be minor to excruciating depending on how much got on you and where the area was affected. Dispose of all clothing, gloves, that have the resin on it. Wash all tools, garden clippers, shovels, etc that may have come in contact with the resin in alcohol. This chemical is no joke! It is one of the most poisonous resins on the planet. Most people are highly allergic to it and can even get severe welts/blisters from contact with it. If exposed to your skin in any significant way seek emergency medical help. There is not much in the way of neutralizing the after effects of the pain. Once the resin is gone from the skin by using the sudsy dish soap method and you have cleansed the area many times, relief can only come from narcotics like vicodin or hydrocodone and then you just wait till the inflammation subsides. Some suggest that aloe vera, calamine, and benadryl help relieve the burning to a minor extent.

PRECAUTIONS:
If you insist on growing myrtle spurge, donkey tail spurge, Euphorbia Myrsinitis then never use a weedwhacker anywhere near it. Wear disposable latex gloves, eye protection and protective clothing when handling or trimming it. You should not have this plant anywhere remotely around pets or children or adults who are unaware of it's extreme toxicity. Some report that just brushing the plant with bare skin is enough to create a painful reaction while others will not react unless the abundant sap touches bare skin. Extreme caution needs to be maintaned so that you do not have secondary or even tertiary contact with the resin in it's milky state or dried state as you can even get burns from the sap if it's on clothing or on tools and then is transfered to the face, genitals or mucus membranes. It is highly advised to keep this plant out of the yard altogether!! Simply exposing the resin to the air in confined spaces like greenhouses can expel enough toxicity into the air so that it burns the mucus membranes and the lungs. These plants should never be cut or trimmed in a confined area.

DEADLY CAUTION!
Never ever burn poisony Ivy, Poison Oak, Stinging Nettles, Euphorbia or spurge. You can release the toxins into the air and destroy your lungs. People have died from trying to eradicate these plants by burning them!! Eradicate these plants by wearing protective gear and putting them into lined trash cans and carefully disposing of these plants so that others are not affected.

Let's not panic here, people, nor take things to extremes!! The spurge family - Euphorbia - is a huge genus that includes cactus and other succulent types, tender perennials (your Christmas poinsettia is a Euphorbia), hardy garden ornamentals and a fair number of weedy, annual species. They all produce a white latex (sap) as do a good number of other plants - figs, milkweed, even dandelions. Latex can be caustic and can cause various reactions to those who are sensitive to it. But not everyone is. I would hesitate referring to it as having "extreme toxicity" as allergic contact dermatitis is extremely variable in its effects and with its subjects.

FWIW, I grow a wide range of different euphorbias in my garden and as houseplants and have never had any sort of reaction to the latex. I do use gloves when cutting back - a sensible garden practice that everyone should follow when working in the garden - but just being aware, knowing if you have any skin or allergic sensitivity and using some basic caution is really all that is called for. I've also gardened with both kids and pets with these plants and no issues with them either. btw, no one has ever died from burning these plants, although that is not advised, certainly in any sort of confined area. The only incidences of fatal poisoning from burning has been documented with oleander (Nerium oleander), which has a well documented reputation of being one of the most toxic plants. And yet, it too is still widely planted in many parts of the country. Just use some common sense.

A great many other common garden plants and weed can produce similar reactions in sensitive people - junipers, yews, Virginia creeper, giant hogweed, rue, milkweed, thistles, daphne, iris, many spring flowering bulbs, smoke tree, sumac....and of course poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac, The list is very extensive.

A word of caution. Spurge originates from Eurasia and like many plants removed from their natural habitat there can be unforeseen consequences. I am certainly not an expert on all the variants of spurge. Some are more leafy and perhaps those are less a threat. But the Myrtle Spurge (often called donkey tail) is a scourge that is uncontrollable if in the dry, sunny environment it likes. Several western states are attempting to eradicate it, but unless they try agent orange or DDT they haven't a prayer- which of course isn't going to happen. I have it on the dry, rocky hillside next to my house, as does every neighbor within 500 miles. The State of Utah brought in teams of hundreds of people to try to dig it up and also poison it- just in a 10 or 20 block neighborhood as a trial case. They also offered a bounty on it for every trash bag of it you brought in. I laughed when I saw them out working on it. I wish it could work, but we are talking literally billions of plants that are virtually impossible to dig up without leaving some trace behind. Plus the seeds can remain dormant for 8 years and then suddenly a whole new infestation can sprout virtually over night. That nice hillside of mine with the dug up plants and the "dead" brown poisoned plants looked like it had never been touched before the summer was over. There may be a solution out there somewhere, but I personally think we will have to learn to live with it. Perhaps we will just learn to appreciate it as an acceptable poisonous infestation. But bottom line- unless you want it to take over your landscape, don't plant it, don't touch it, definitely don't use a weed eater on it, and for God's sake keep your children and pets away from it. Unfortunately in the dry western states it competes for valuable water and land, and it's toxicity prevents other plants from growing. California has estimated that there are 25 to 30 MILLION acres of spurge in that state alone. Unless some predator turns up that likes to eat it (goats and sheep do like it- but do the numbers- plus they don't eradicate it) I suspect it is here to stay in the west. If only it were a good energy source...

Close to ten years ago I planted one Euphorbia dulcis "Chameleon" for the purple foliage. It survived but didn't look like much for a couple of years, then vanished.

Except I would periodically notice one or two self-sown plants in various spots.

This year I have a really nice clump in the perfect spot in my bright light/scant sun border, keeping company with Rodgersia pinnata and a couple of huge Hostas.

Apparently I am not sensitive to Euphorbia sap, at least the kind I grow (all the rest are Thai hybrid Euphorbias (tender house plants which summer outdoors)). During the outdoor season I take a lot of cuttings of these plants and surely have gotten sap on my skin at times, but have not experienced any rash or other reaction.

I have Cypress Spurge milkweed growing in several places in my gardens. It has grown over my garden and into my gravel path so I trimmed them the other day and got the milk all over my hand. Later in the evening my hand started burning and the next morning not only did my hand have blisters on it but my face, nose and left ear felt like I had had a derm-abrasion treatment performed. I put some antibiotic liquid on it that I have for skin issues and it stung so much. My hand is much better but my face is now at the Leathery and crusty stage with dull stinging still lingering after 4 days. I have several very red spots and even a couple open sores. Even my most mild face cream stings when I apply it. I have pulled the plant out by the stem in various places it has taken over in my garden over the years and don't recall a reaction but when I cut it and released the milk I had this reaction. I will be attempting to get it out of all areas at this point because this is not an experience I wish to experience TWICE!!!