I would not wish the agony I went though on anyone. If you get the sap in your eyes, flush, flush flush, then get to the ER ASAP. But all pencil cactus is dangerous for all people. You will not know if you have a latex allergy until its too late. If you have one of these pencil cactus's please get rid of it, dont buy one at garden centers,wear gloves and even then wash your hands raw. If you have a latex allergy all Euphorbias are dangerous because of the latex based sap. I spent three months with pressure in my eyes on steroids and hopeful I did not loose my eyesight. The eye specialist I went to said it was the worst eye burn she had ever seen. I spent three long days in absolute agony, blind and on massive amounts of Vicodin. I went back to the ER and was treated by a doctor who knew the danger of this plant. I went home and had my son look this plant up and it said the sap is like having lye thrown in your eyes and you can go blind.
PENCIL CACTUS HOW TO
They washed my eyes out but did not know how to treat the burn. And hour later I was blind in the ER with both corneas burned out.
The sap is latex based and does not always come off with soap. After washing my hands with soap I touched my eyes and in minutes they started to burn. I was working for a landscape company and we re-potted a ladys so called pencil cactus. This plant is toxic and you can go blind if you get the sap in your eyes. This plant is still sold in garden centers as a cactus. I would like to warn anyone who has or may want to buy a so called pencil cactus ( really a Euphorbia).