Care when mowing down unwanted elephant ears

From: <hcward416 at comcast.net> on 2004.07.12 at 17:38:55(11738) Yesterday I was mowing down a clump of extremely wet elephant ears that produce runners underground and was going to spray them with roundup afterwards. The lawnmower blower got clogged and after stopping the machine I laid down on the ground and reached under mower to clean out the clippings. I forgot that elephant ears are loaded with oxalic acid. As a result my arms and legs are on fire and have been since yesterday. It was like being stung with thousands of red ants. I will not be doing that again-ever!!!! +More Hope this helps so that no one else makes this mistake. Barbara

From: "Julius Boos" <ju-bo at msn.com> on 2004.07.12 at 23:24:54(11743) >From: >Reply-To: aroid-l@lists.ncsu.edu >To: >Subject: [aroid-l] Care when mowing down unwanted elephant ears >Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 12:38:55 -0500 > Dear Barbara, I am sorry to hear of your misfortune. What 'elephant ear' was it, a Philodendron, Alocasia, Colocasia or Xanthosoma?? ALL may have this effect, but the only one that once 'got' to me was the leaves of the common (here in Florida) Philodendron 'selloum', I was pruning the old leaves and in a couple of hours my chest and arms were on fire! Julius +More >Yesterday I was mowing down a clump of extremely wet elephant ears that >produce runners underground and was going to spray them with roundup >afterwards. The lawnmower blower got clogged and after stopping the machine >I laid down on the ground and reached under mower to clean out the >clippings. I forgot that elephant ears are loaded with oxalic acid. As a >result my arms and legs are on fire and have been since yesterday. It was >like being stung with thousands of red ants. I will not be doing that >again-ever!!!! >Hope this helps so that no one else makes this mistake. >Barbara >

From: "Bryant, Susan L." <SLBryant at scj.com> on 2004.07.15 at 19:09:28(11761) Thanks for the warning, but living in our zone 5, I can't imagine having to mow down elephant ears- sometimes we struggle through winters and spider mites just to keep them alive! I'm sorry to hear of your pain, Barbara, but I do have to admit to snickering a bit! The thought of laying down in that to clean out you mower- sounds like something I would do! Of course, I AM a bad seed- I also laughed when my mother found a brown liquid spilled in her purse. When she held it to her nose and sniffed, only to find it was pepper spray, that was bad. But when she scratched her nose, rubbed her eye, and wiped the side of her mouth.... well yeah, I guess it isn't funny..... +More Hope you heal quickly! Susan

From: <hcward416 at comcast.net> on 2004.07.15 at 21:52:08(11763) Very funny Susan. You are bad!!!! Your mother must really love you for laughing. I am fine now. Barbara +More ----- Original Message ----- To: Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 2:09 PM Subject: Re: [aroid-l] Care when mowing down unwanted elephant ears > Thanks for the warning, but living in our zone 5, I can't imagine having to > mow down elephant ears- sometimes we struggle through winters and spider > mites just to keep them alive! > > I'm sorry to hear of your pain, Barbara, but I do have to admit to > snickering a bit! The thought of laying down in that to clean out you > mower- sounds like something I would do! > > Of course, I AM a bad seed- I also laughed when my mother found a brown > liquid spilled in her purse. When she held it to her nose and sniffed, only > to find it was pepper spray, that was bad. But when she scratched her nose, > rubbed her eye, and wiped the side of her mouth.... well yeah, I guess it > isn't funny..... > > Hope you heal quickly! > Susan > >

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