Red for Danger!!! Autumn Leaves...
all wet and shiny in the fog.
Rhus Toxicodendron succedaneum, or Wax Tree, or Japanese Wax Tree. This tree with its pretty red autumn leaves is highly toxic.
What I didn't know about this tree was that every time I touched it over the last two years since it popped up in my garden I became more and more sensitive to it. This time all hell broke loose!
On 25 January 2014 I pruned some branches off it. Three days later a few itchy spots appeared on my arms, face and legs. They rapidly spread and developed into an intensely itchy rash of small and large blisters.
It has taken several weeks of some grunty steroids to deal with the rash. It is healing well and shouldn't leave any scars.
However, I think I got The LAST LAUGH! My dermatologist says I look twenty years younger because the blistering took the top two layers of skin of my face! When you're my age that's a real bonus.
The tree has now been totally removed from my garden.
Red for Danger!!! Autumn Leaves...
all wet and shiny in the fog.
Rhus Toxicodendron succedaneum, or Wax Tree, or Japanese Wax Tree. This tree with its pretty red autumn leaves is highly toxic.
What I didn't know about this tree was that every time I touched it over the last two years since it popped up in my garden I became more and more sensitive to it. This time all hell broke loose!
On 25 January 2014 I pruned some branches off it. Three days later a few itchy spots appeared on my arms, face and legs. They rapidly spread and developed into an intensely itchy rash of small and large blisters.
It has taken several weeks of some grunty steroids to deal with the rash. It is healing well and shouldn't leave any scars.
However, I think I got The LAST LAUGH! My dermatologist says I look twenty years younger because the blistering took the top two layers of skin of my face! When you're my age that's a real bonus.
The tree has now been totally removed from my garden.