Allergenic plants (?) question

[Jan Bosselaers]

Dear Taxacomers,

Just a quick question:
three weeks ago, a few hours after visiting Salvador Dali's grave and
the garden of his wife's castle in Pubol, Catalunya, I discovered an
erythematous rash on my left hand, very similar to the poison Ivy rash I
got after collecting spiders in the woods in Illinois: four parallel
lines of small, red blisters. Even now, three weeks later, it has not
healed completely. This time too, I had been collecting spiders in
cypress trees and bushes in the neighbourhood of Pubol and in Ullastret.

Does anyone have an idea what might have caused this rash? I know that
allergenic, urushiol containing Anacardiaceae occur in Korea, China,
Australia and Japan, but I know of none in Europe.
Could it be something else, like hairy caterpillars? There were some
white, cotton-like tufts in the cypress trees, they were not spider
webs.
Or might the grand master, as one of his many practical jokes, have
planted some foreign allergenic plants in his garden?

Regards,

Jan
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Jan Bosselaers
"Dochterland", R. novarumlaan 2
B-2340 Beerse, Belgium                       tel 32-14-615896
home: dochterland at village.uunet.be      fax 32-14-610306
work: jbossela at janbe.jnj.com
web: http://gallery.uunet.be/Dochterland/
"Otium sine litteris mors est et hominis vivi sepultura" Seneca
(Spare time without reading is like being buried alive)