A friend sent me this message and I wanted to make all of you aware.
'After cutting big branches from my tree and then taking off about 100 leaves from the stems and being exposed to the milky substance, I had a mild itch in my left eye and it was very slightly blurred. In the morning, we cancelled plans and headed to the optometrist as I could hardly see in my left eye. There was no redness or itching, just a fully clouded blur. I could barely read the biggest letter "E" on the chart. She was concerned, so right away to the ophthalmologist. Left there with a steroid eye drop to use every 2 hours and through the night and a return this morning first thing. He was concerned that if there was no improvement from being poisoned, that I would be going to Bascom-Palmer ASAP. It was scary. This morning I had improved overnight in less than 24 hours to about 50%, so no need to go to the specialist. Will be doing drops during day hours through Monday AM when I go back for a check.
Lesson learned is that I will wear eye protection and always gloves (washing them immediately after exposure) when dealing with cutting plumeria, or any plant with a milky substance. I love gardening and propagating, so will not stop that!'
Here are some of the warnings online about plumeria:
the sap is poisonous and will cause itching, burning sensation, and redness on the body part that comes in contact with the sap.
This widespread plant is mildly poisonous, ingesting leaves or flowers can irritate the digestive tract. It's the sap that's irritating and a few people develop rashes when they get it on their hands from breaking a branch or leaves
