I was doing some web surfing today, and while looking at funny pictures of strangely worded signs on Oddlyspecific.com (an offshoot of Icanhascheezburger.com), I came upon this one: http://oddlyspecific.com/2009/12/im-intrigued/. (PLEASE check the link before reading on)
I scrolled down to read the various comments about it and came upon one about the manchineel tree.
The user “Crovie” warns “That tree can kill you in a dozen different ways. It’s poisonous, it has spikes, its spikes are poisonous, its leaves are poisonous, rain that falls on its leaves and drips off becomes poisonous, its fruit is spiked and if you get past the spikes the inside is poisonous, and if you cut it or burn it, it releases poisonous fumes.”
I read this and just thought,
Wow. So you, readers, get a crash course in crazy-poisonous trees.
According to Wikipedia, my go-to source for fast facts, “A present-day Spanish name is in fact manzanilla de la muerte, "little apple of death". This refers to the fact that manchineel is one of the most poisonous trees in the world.” No kidding.
So look out, residents of Florida, the Bahamas, and the Carribean, and anyone planning a trip. It can grow up to 50 feet (15 meters) high, its leaves are a glossy green, and its fruit resembles a green crab apple. It usually grows near the shoreline, by the way, so if you see a grove of these, I suggest keeping your distance. In fact, they are so hazardous that many of them are given warning signs or a red "X” sprayed on the trunks to denote danger, so keep an eye out.
Don’t go burning it to get rid of it, though; the smoke it would release can cause blindness. Also, they are an endangered species, so you may never come across one. That just goes to show, no matter how deadly something is, there’s always someone out there trying to keep it alive.
Apparently, anything in the Euphorbiaceae family should be avoided, because another comment referred to the tropical sandbox tree, which is, as he so aptly describes, “insanely poisonous, grows hundreds of feet tall, every inch is bristling with thorns which are similarly poisonous, its seeds have the same general shape, size and sharpness as bear claws (NO, NOT THE DOUGHNUT KIND), it can grow just about anywhere, and to top it all off, the fruit (again, poisonous) F***ING EXPLODES. NO S***, IT USES THE SHRAPNEL METHOD FOR SEED DISTRIBUTION. You remember how I said they were shaped like bear claws? Seemed like a random detail at the time, didn’t it? So yes, dangerous tree, GTFO, holy s***, run!” (Edited for content ;D)
Very eloquent, “matt”; but he does make a good point: DON’T go near a sandbox tree in the spring. Luckily, unless you're planning on trekking through the Amazon rainforest any time soon, you won't come upon this killer plant, also known as the ‘dynamite plant’ to natives. This tree has three main uses: it is often cultivated for shade (which seems very dangerous to me), it’s poison is used for hunting, and it’s sap is used as an additive to an hallucinogenic beverage. Groovy.
