Please never touch this plant

Gympie-gympie

• meet one of the world’s most venomous plants
• it’s a stinging tree/shrub that can leave humans in acute pain even months after the initial sting
• the gympie-gympie or Dendrocnide excelsa is one of the four to six poisonous tree species that live in Australia
• it’s so hazardous that forest surveyors, timber workers, and other people who work in the forest wear respirators, thick gloves, and carry antihistamine pills
• just in case you find yourself wandering through the Australian bush
• and are not interested in being stung
• be on the look out for broad, heart shaped leaves with saw-tooth edges
• that look furry as result of their thick covering of stinging hairs
• the trees themselves have white or purple-red fruits
• the stems are also covered in stinging hairs
• so be careful

• if you don’t live in the tropics
• gympie-gympie shouldn’t be a problem for you
• it’s mainly found in Australia
• from Queensland to the Cape York Peninsula
• and can now be found in New South Wales
• it’s an opportunistic plant
• meaning that it likes to sprout up in areas that have been disturbed
• either by deforestation
• fire
• or cyclones
• they’re often found in sunny areas along rivers and walking trails
• perfect, right?

• if you do run into one of these plants
• you touching it will break off the little silica hairs (or trichomes) on its leaves
• allowing it to inject its venom into your skin
• some victims compare the stinging sensation to being simultaneously electrocuted and being doused in acid
• not a fun time
• you won’t die
• necessarily
• if you seek proper treatment, you’ll likely survive
• but there can be lasting allergenic affects

Why does everything in Australia seem to want to kill us? The most poisonous everything seems to have ended up there. How, I have no idea. I’m sure there’s some interesting evolutionary biology research on exactly this question. There are so many resources to shuffle through. Let’s get digging.

Source

“Factsheet: Gympie-Gympie.” Australian Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2016. <http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2014/02/factsheet-gympie-gympie/>.