
Do Not Eat, Touch, or Even Inhale the Air Around the Manchineel Tree - kposehn
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/whatever-you-do-do-not-eat-touch-or-even-inhale-the-air-around-the-manchineel-tree?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=theatlantic
======
ardme
I thought the mention of water hemlock near the end was interesting. Actually,
common poison hemlock (which is related) grows all over the U.S. midwest like
a weed and it is very deadly. You will see it growing in fields and at the
side of many highways if you drive through Ohio. It is commonly mistaken for
wild carrots (aka queen anne's lace). It famously was used to poison Socrates,
and it kills a lot of livestock accidentally in modern times.

[https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/logan-
ut/poisonou...](https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/logan-ut/poisonous-
plant-research/docs/poison-hemlock-conium-maculatum/)

~~~
nathanm412
I didn't realize that was hemlock. We have it growing in our back yard in a
bad patch of weeds we need to clear out.

~~~
Declanomous
I've actually cleared it out before and didn't even realize what it was. I
volunteer to clean up invasive species, and we end up pulling a lot out when
we clean up buckthorn along with garlic mustard. I probably knew it was
hemlock at one point it time, but it didn't really stick.

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antirez
If you live in central/north Europe, beware of Heracleum Mantegazzianum:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum)

~~~
krylon
When I was young, these grew in our neighborhood. I remember my parents giving
me very stern warnings not to touch that plant. I found it strange that such a
nasty plant was allowed to grow in a neighborhood with little kids around, but
then again there's lots of nasty plants in German gardens.

After I made the mistake to touch a stinging nettle, I took such warnings more
seriously.

~~~
FreeFull
To be fair, touching a stinging nettle is standard fare of childhood, and
isn't really bad for you other than the pain. If you spend lots of time out
and about in green spaces in certain parts of Europe, getting stung by some
nettles will be unavoidable.

~~~
pavel_lishin
At least in Russia, it was almost a rite of passage to have "nettle-fights" \-
you and your friends all put on a pair of gloves and some shorts, everyone
grabs a nice nettle, and then you start whipping each other with them.

------
riebschlager
Every spring I google "poison ivy" so I can remember exactly what it looks
like. And every summer, I get a poison ivy rash.

Now that I know this tree exists, I have little doubt I'd die after a hike in
the Caribbean.

~~~
MichaelApproved
Here's a handy video that can help you stay rash free next summer
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oyoDRHpQK0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oyoDRHpQK0)

Basic idea is that you need to clean yourself with a washcloth or loofah. The
oil from the plant is like automotive grease. You need to scrub it off.

~~~
semi-extrinsic
IDK about poison ivy, but for automotive grease, Dawn Ultra works wonders even
without a scrub.

Like my dad says, "you haven't been proper dirty till you've had to use Dawn
as shampoo".

Brake dust, OTOH, now there you need to scrub, preferrably with a stiff nail
brush.

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franciscop
I read somewhere that, if you get stranded somewhere and your last option is
to eat some natural plants/fruits that you don't know, the rule was to take a
small bite and wait for few hours. Most poisonous things would not kill you
this way but will give you a hard time so you know it's not safe. Otherwise
it's safe-ish to eat

~~~
Retra
I remember a more incremental approach:

1\. Mash it and hold in the pit of your elbow for an hour. If no irritation,
go to step 2.

2\. Hold it in your mouth for an hour. If no irritation, go to step 3.

3\. Eat a bite and wait a few hours. If no irritation, go to step 4.

4\. Eat a small amount and wait a few hours. If no irritation, it's probably
safe to eat.

~~~
joss82
One exception to these rules.

It will pass all your tests without causing any irritation but still kills you
in the end:

"There are no negative symptoms from eating this fungus until 6–24 hours after
ingestion"

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_verna](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_verna)

~~~
seszett
Unknown mushrooms though, should really be your very last recourse, only if
there's really, really nothing else to eat at all where you are.

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SeanDav
> _" The toxicity to humans, though, that’s a mystery. “There really isn’t an
> evolutionary answer to its being toxic, other than to just say it’s a
> biological mistake because it certainly doesn’t gain anything by being toxic
> to humans"_

I am quite puzzled by this quote, in evolutionary terms, humans are very
recent. I highly doubt that humans have been around for long enough for plants
to evolve to suite humans specifically, rather than mammals in general.

~~~
jfoutz
Corn has.

~~~
SeanDav
There is a big difference between evolution and selective breeding by humans.

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josephcooney
Gympie Gympie plant is also not nice.
[http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-
enviro...](http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-
environment/2009/06/gympie-gympie-once-stung,-never-forgotten/)

~~~
danieltillett
I have been stung by stinging trees and it is not pleasant (Australian
understatement).

------
coldshower
Reminds me of the Devil Tree (Triplaris americana) found in South America[1].
Anything that touches its bark (bird, insect, human) is ferociously attacked
by colonies of venom squirting red ants.

Learned about this fascinating tree in the equally fascinating book "1491" by
Charles Mann[2].

[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triplaris_americana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triplaris_americana)

[2][http://amzn.to/2hKn6Ly](http://amzn.to/2hKn6Ly)

~~~
uep
Your comment makes me think that the Latin speaking world likes to attribute
bad plants to the devil.

There's a drug that Colombians call the Devil's Breath[1]. Which is believed
to be scopolamine[2], which had previously been used as truth-serum. The
rumors go that the drug makes you "zombified" and compliant, willing to do
whatever is suggested to you. It's my understanding that the drug is extracted
from belladonna[3] though it's hard to know what is actually true about the
rumors. Vice has a video about it[4], though I haven't had the opportunity to
watch it yet.

[1]
[https://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2015/sep/02/de...](https://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2015/sep/02/devils-
breath-aka-scopolamine-can-it-really-zombify-you)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyoscine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyoscine)

[3]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atropa_belladonna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atropa_belladonna)

[4] [https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/worlds-scariest-drug-
colo...](https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/worlds-scariest-drug-colombian-
devil39s-breath-part-1/55ef5be749b3d5591cf227c4)

------
mdturnerphys
The quoted article by the radiologist was discussed recently:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12257523](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12257523)

------
agentgt
I wonder if the plant exhibits (or will eventually) the Edge Effect [1].

Poisonous plants such as poison ivy often do because people will avoid the
plants but will tromp on others (thus the poison plants survive readily on the
edge since there is less competition).

That being said if the plant is exceedingly a nuisance like mosquitos it might
prefer not to live on the edge (as humans will actively destroy it).

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_effects](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_effects)

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minxomat
Someone with minor poisoning:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=364GFrNa3wA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=364GFrNa3wA)

> Yeah I was thrashing around in pain, until I cracked a joke and felt
> emotionally better. That's why I picked up my camera and decided to
> chronicle my adventure. The thing about unbelievable pain is that sometimes
> it's so unbelievable that you can't believe it and there is some humor in
> that. For people like me anyway. ﻿

Takes it pretty well, but it sure does look painful.

------
franze
Ooohhhkeeey, "manzanilla de la muerte" slept under one during a hot afternoon
in a nature reserve in ecuador. Great shadow at that point, had some red dots
on my arm and back later... And yes, there were huge signs not to touch the
tree and eat the fruites, but it was the only shadow around.

------
Symmetry
Could the poison fruit be to prevent fish from eating them while they float
through the ocean?

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ChuckMcM
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1127797/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1127797/)
is a recent report of tourists eating manchineel fruit.

~~~
metaphor
It was linked to and directly quoted from in the article.

------
leoc
So apparently the wood from its similarly-toxic relative
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metopium_brownei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metopium_brownei),
"black poisonwood", is in use in things like musical instruments?
[http://www.bonedrymusic.com/Chechem-Rhythm-
Bones-s/283.htm](http://www.bonedrymusic.com/Chechem-Rhythm-Bones-s/283.htm)

------
hackskull
Ironically, ‘Manchi neellu’ in Telugu language means, ‘fresh water’

------
abecedarius
I wonder if the fruit was eaten by an extinct (or locally extinct) animal. Any
plausible candidates?

------
DonaldFisk
And this is a walnut tree:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juglans_regia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juglans_regia)

Compare the fruit, leaves, and bark.

~~~
mfukar
Even if one couldn't tell the leaves apart, the bark of the trees is
completely different. One is smooth, the other reddish. And of course there's
no way you would mistake the brown-green husk of the walnut for manchineel
fruit - they are smaller in size, the husk is often cracked near maturity.

Not that we don't have issues with walnuts, either..

~~~
DonaldFisk
It would help to link to some photographs, and make pronoun references
unambiguous.

I've never seen a manchineel tree. Perhaps they do look quite different in
real life. But based on the photographs I've seen (e.g. on
[http://psytreasure.com/little-apple-death-deadly-plant-
used-...](http://psytreasure.com/little-apple-death-deadly-plant-used-torture-
instrument/)) there's a risk of confusing the two plants.

From what I can tell based on photographs (here walnut = Juglans regia):

Leaves: Individual leaves are very similar but walnut leaves have a pinnate
arrangement, manchineel don't.

Fruit: If they're shaped like apples, or are yellowish, they're manchineel.
However, manchineel are often more oval and coloured similarly to walnut (see
photo on psytreasure page).

Bark: There's enough overlap here that I wouldn't rely on it.

Location: Manchineel trees are usually located on the coast or near water.
Walnut trees can be found anywhere.

Range: Manchineel trees are located around the Caribbean Walnut is Eurasian,
but has North American relatives (e.g. black walnut).

Advice: If you're near the Caribbean and see what looks like a walnut tree,
avoid it.

More general advice: If you're not sure what a plant is, don't eat it.

~~~
mfukar
> More general advice: If you're not sure what a plant is, don't eat it.

Solid.

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taralx
Add this to the "Nature is Terrifying" list...

~~~
chris_wot
Sometimes nature fakes it.

[https://cdn.ampproject.org/ii/w1200/s/img.rt.com/files/2016....](https://cdn.ampproject.org/ii/w1200/s/img.rt.com/files/2016.11/article/581b7fefc361888a2f8b46a1.jpg)

Pretty harmless, but they've been known to drag away mice.

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kahrkunne
I'll make sure not to eat the air around this tree

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logicallee
IMO this title would be better if it were broken not to be so parallel:

"Do Not Eat, or Touch, or Even Inhale the Air Around the Manchineel Tree"

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ultim8k
Chemical data is missing though.

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enthdegree
Up next on Brave Wilderness...

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hackskull
Ironically, ‘Manchi neellu’ in Telugu language means, ‘fresh water

