Identification of a poisonous plant?

Question: A friend touched this plant and her finger turned black and blue and swelled up.

responder: Erin Hill, PhD  Replied June 22, 2023, 2:12 PM EDT
response: Could you please send a photo of the base of the plant?

responder: Erin Hill, PhD  Replied June 22, 2023, 2:28 PM EDT
response: Please note that I will not be in the office Friday or Monday, so if you send more photos during that time it may take me a couple days or it may be assigned to another expert.

responder: The Question Asker Replied June 22, 2023, 4:13 PM EDT
response: Will try to get a pic of the baseSent from my iPhone On Jun 22, 2023, at 2:28 PM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:﻿

responder: The Question Asker Replied June 22, 2023, 4:13 PM EDT
response: Will try to get a pic of the baseSent from my iPhone On Jun 22, 2023, at 2:28 PM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:﻿

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response: Good morning, Richard -- Are you having trouble adding the additional photos?  (you can attach ment to this message by using the "drop files here or choose them" prompt.    Hope to hear from you soon.

responder: The Question Asker Replied June 29, 2023, 12:27 PM EDT
response: Have not been able to get more photos of the plant. My grandson’s app identified the plant as spinach but when I compared it to photos of spinach I found I don’t see any similarities. Your thoughts? Any apps you can recommend that are accurate at identifying plants and trees? Thank you. RichSent from my iPhone On Jun 29, 2023, at 9:14 AM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:﻿

responder: Erin Hill, PhD  Replied June 29, 2023, 1:37 PM EDT
response: Yes, that is what I think it is, spinach that is flowering. If you do an internet search of "flowering spinach" I think you'll see images that are similar. I had wanted to see the lower leaves to confirm.   Examples of similar photos https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/spinacea/oleracea/ https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/spinacia-oleracea/  Regardless of what plant species it is though, the symptoms described do not sound related to a plant, but more akin to an insect sting or arthopod bite or something like that. While people have varying allergic reactions to plants, to my knowledge this is doesn't align, particularly the change in skin coloration.   For more information on the accuracy of plant ID apps, you can check out this article that covers an exercise I do with my students to evaluate them.  https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/plant-identification-theres-an-app-for-that-actually-several