The Firestick Plant
The Firestick plant is an attractive, easy-to-care-for plant often seen in Southern California gardens as part of a low-maintenance landscape. The Firestick plant (Euphorbia tirucalli) goes by many names, including Pencil Cactus, Pencil Tree, Naked Lady, and Milk Bush. As unique and interesting as these plants look, they contain a latex sap that can be highly toxic to people and animals. Contact with the sap can cause an allergic reaction affecting the skin, eyes, nose, and — if ingested — internal systems. The sap can remain on skin, gloves, or clothing for several days, causing irritation or injury well after the initial contact. If a stick is cut or broken, the plant can project its sap outward onto a nearby person or animal. Unfortunately, there is no safe part of this plant; any handling, intentional or not, can release the sap, which contains a toxin known as diterpene esters that triggers allergic reactions in people and animals.
What Should You Do If This Plant Is in Your Garden?
The best way to protect yourself from the negative effects of the Firestick plant is simply not to have it in your yard. As your property management agency, Golden Key Properties takes every opportunity to minimize risk to our owners, tenants, and vendors. Because the Firestick plant poses such a liability to property owners, we have these plants removed whenever we find them on a property. If you know you have this plant in your rental property’s yard and it hasn’t yet been removed, please reach out to your property manager so we can have it safely removed.
As beautiful as these plants are, they simply aren’t worth the risk they pose. There are many other attractive, low-maintenance options to fill your landscape — please let us know if you’d like assistance choosing replacement plants!
Resources: SucculentAlley & PlantCareToday.