I’ve noticed a lot of what I think is Euphorbia amygdaloides var robbiae, or wood spurge, in public spaces recently, yet crocus.co.uk, says it’s “toxic if eaten” and a “skin and eye irritant”. Any thoughts?
Euphorbia sap causes skin to become photosensitive: so, if you handle it with bare skin in the sun, it can cause blisters. Mind you, so can the sap of parsnips, celery, parsley, cow parsley, some hogweed and figs, to name a few. Other plants are skin irritants, sun or not – alkanet, comfrey, nettles being the most obvious.
With the best will in the world, you couldn’t possibly weed out all euphorbias because they are everywhere, just as cow parsley is. Like many plants, euphorbias can be both poison and cure in one: the seeds of its berries are very poisonous (just one can kill a child); however, a recent drug trial found that it can be very effective against skin cancer, and might yet become a new drug.
I grew up in a garden with many poisonous plants, and we had dogs, yet we all survived. My mother taught us what tasted good and what to avoid, and her warnings were apocalyptic: she’d even act out the dangers of some plants (it took me years not to be terrified of daturas). Milky sap was to be avoided, which is a good rule of thumb.
The outdoor world is wild, dangerous and wonderful, and I think it’s much better to teach children to respect it than weed it all out.
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