Phytophototoxic Reaction from Rue

I know better.  I mean, I really do.  I love studying plants and their uses and their dangers, and I am constantly aware of all of the above, but a strange set of circumstances set me up to get a pretty bad reaction from one of my favorite plants: rue, or Ruta graveolens.

This is a lesion close to my elbow.  Note the blisters.  I have whelps like this over both my upper arms.  I probaby have six large areas on my left arm and three or four long areas on the right. 

Rue is beautiful.  It’s the tall plant with yellow blooms.  I have a bunch of it in both my front and back yards.  It attracts all kinds of butterflies and bees and wasps.  I am well informed that it can cause “burns” on the skin of sensitive individuals.  But who knew a set of unusual circumstances would lead to all my blisters and skin damage?

• Husband trims the rue in the back so it’s not in the walkway and does not mention it because he frequently does things like this for me.
• I go out on Tuesday, geared up for the garden with hat, overalls, and boots to do some heavy work, but I am sleeveless.
• It’s dangerously hot (100 degrees) and sunny on Tuesday.
• I was moving a rain barrel up onto permanent blocks.  It was temporarily sitting on the ground beside the large freshly-cut rue and I moved it to its permanent location on the other side of the large freshly-cut rue. 
• Little did I know that as I walked back and forth by the rue, measuring and carrying the barrel, fresh sap was being brushed onto my arms and a potential dangerous photophytotoxic reaction was beginning to occur because I was exposing the sap on my arms to bright ultraviolet light from the sun.

So there you have it.  Many of our modern medicines come from plants.  There is youth and age and life and death all to be found in plants.  I’m not a chemist or a doctor, but let me share with you the names of some of the compounds found in rue:  furanocoumarins 5-methoxypsoralen and 8-methoxypsoralen and graveoline, a quinolone alkaloid.  These substances have been studied for cancer treatment.  Perhaps because they interfere with mitosis?

My only concern is permanent skin cell damage.  Let’s hope not.  Now, I’m wondering what to put on the lesions.  More research.  I’ve read that if the reaction is severe, topical steroids can be used, but I don’t think I need (or want) that.  My best bet is probably to take my vitamins, keep the areas clean and continue to be careful to stay out of the direct sun.

The lesson?  Don’t deviate from your rule to always wear sleeves in the garden.  I normally do, but it was SO hot. 

Happy Gardening, Still…

Lynn