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A Florida vacation sounds like the nicest thing around - especially if you’re coming
from a cold climate.
But you shouldn’t let your guard down.
There’s gators to watch out for if you’re near the water, stinging insects flying around,
the 90-plus degree heat most days which can cause heatstroke and dehydration if you’re
not careful - and of course, there’s the internationally feared and dreaded, Florida
Man to watch out for.
It’s enough to make you want to sit under an apple tree, relax in the shade, and have
a crisp bite to eat…
STOP!
That’s not an apple tree!
It’s a tree bearing nothing but death!
Yes, that’s right, in Florida, even the apple trees can’t be fully trusted.
That’s because there’s a tree that looks almost exactly like an apple tree, but is
actually one of the most dangerous trees in the world.
Meet the Manchineel, a tree native to the southern part of North America.
Despite being most commonly found in central America and northern South America, it’s
started showing up in Florida - and that means vacationers should watch what they take a
bite of.
So what makes this tree so deadly?
For one thing, it’s a trap!
Both its leaves and the small fruits that grow from it bear a significant resemblance
to the common apple.
But it works in a different way from many mimics.
Mimics are usually animals that resemble a more dangerous animal, such as the hoverfly
which mimics the color pattern of a stinging wasp so predators will leave it alone.
The Manchineel resembles a harmless plant that bears tasty and nutritious fruit - but
anyone who eats it is in for the worst lunch of their life.
What is the Manchineel hiding in its appetizing-looking fruit?
The fruit of the Manchineel, also known as the Death Apple, is packed with a milky white
sap that contains dangerous toxins.
Even touching it with bare skin will cause allergic contact dermatitis, which can manifest
in redness, blisters, and severe pain.
But it’s not just the fruit - the Manchineel is packed with this toxic compound in every
part of its body, including the leaves and even the bark.
This protects it from pests that could damage it, but makes it a massive health hazard to
anyone in the vicinity.
But what would happen if someone actually ate it?
Nothing good.
While there are no cases known in the modern day, eating and swallowing it could be fatal.
That’s because the inside of the body - including the mouth and the digestive tract - has less
of a protective layer than the exterior skin.
The damage from the sap touching the body inside would be more severe than for someone
who touched it with their hands.
But don’t take our word for it - listen to the unfortunate people at the source.
For those who have been unlucky enough to take a bite, they initially describe the taste
as sweet and tasty.
That changes quickly, as a peppery sensation sets in and makes eating the fruit painful.
But this is only the beginning of the Manchineel’s revenge.
Radiologist Nicola Strickland made the mistake of taking a bite of the Manchineel’s fruit
in 2000 while visiting the island of Tobago.
She described a burning, tearing sensation that led to an intense tightness of the throat.
This only got worse after a few hours, making it extremely painful and almost impossible
to swallow, as she could feel a massive pharyngeal lump in her throat.
She got through it by drinking pina coladas and milk, and after eight hours the symptoms
began to fade - although severe tenderness in her lymph nodes continued.
When she told her story to the locals, they reacted with shock and horror - the tree had
a reputation.
Other people who have eaten from the tree have suffered worse consequences - including
serious long-term gastrointestinal issues.
So just don’t eat the fruit, and you should be fine, right?
Not quite.
The Manchineel has gone so overboard in its poison content that it can cause serious harm
even if it never comes near your mouth or hands.
Even standing beneath the tree can be dangerous - the sap leaks into the water when it’s
raining, and the toxic water can blister the skin of anyone who gets hit by it.
So better find somewhere else to get shelter from the rain - the liquid is so corrosive,
it can damage the paint on cars if they’re parked under it.
This tree sounds like a nightmare.
Might be a good idea to burn it and be done with it!
Think again!
The tree is so packed full of toxins that when burned, the latex that’s packed with
poison can be a massive public health hazard.
The smoke becomes toxic, causing severe irritation to anyone who is in the immediate vicinity.
It can even cause serious eye damage if the smoke hits the corneas, potentially causing
blindness if someone doesn’t get their eyes treated after exposure.
It’s not a surprise that most Floridians are very cautious of the Manchineel tree.
So the state’s probably trying to get rid of it - right?
Despite how dangerous it is, the Manchineel isn’t classified as an invasive species
or a noxious weed.
It’s actually listed as an endangered species in Florida, which means they’re trying to
preserve it.
And as dangerous as it is, it does have its uses.
Those who have been living around the tree for centuries know how to handle it carefully
to render it harmless and useful.
Drying it out removes the sap, and the tree is used as a wood source by furniture-makers
in the Caribbean.
The bark can produce a gum that has health benefits for those suffering from Edema, and
even the toxic fruits can work as a diuretic when safely dried.
But one use doesn’t neutralize the tree’s deadliness - it takes advantage of it.
The deadly sap of the Manchineel tree has been used as a poison for centuries, with
locals in the Caribbean using it to poison their enemies’ water supply.
The sap can also be used as a way to make conventional weapons toxic, such as coating
arrowheads with them.
One of these weapons may have even claimed the life of a famous explorer.
Juan Ponce De Leon was a Spanish explorer and colonial leader who made frequent voyages
to Florida.
But in 1521, he and his men were attacked by the local Calusa people who drove them
out of the territory.
Ponce de Leon was hit by an arrow and quickly became very ill, dying in Cuba.
Historians believe the arrow was coated with Manchineel sap.
But wouldn’t the tree being so over-the-top poisonous make it hard to survive?
Fruit-bearing trees generally want their fruit to be eaten - that’s how the seeds get spread.
In fact, some have made their fruit appealing to birds who swallow the fruit whole but deadly
to humans who chew it, thus ensuring the maximum spread.
But the Manchineel is deadly to almost every animal who eats it, so how does it get spread?
While iguanas seem immune to the toxins and sometimes eat and spread the seeds, the tree
does most of its spreading via the seas.
The coastal trees eventually drop their fruit into the sea, they’re brought by the tides
to the coast, and they rot and grow anew - a tree designed to reproduce without ever having
anything eat it.
The Manchineel is a nasty tree that a lot of people fear - but is it truly the deadliest
tree in the world?
There are some serious contenders around the world - including one that may be even more
painful than the Manchineel.
Meet the Gympie Stinger.
Native to Australia, this plant - scientifically named Dendrocnide moroides - looks like a
harmless green plant with large green leaves.
But every single one of those leaves is coated with countless tiny stinging hairs that, when
touched, break off and deliver a powerful neurotoxin that it injects into the skin.
But unlike many toxic plants, the symptoms aren’t going to disappear after a few hours
or days.
Victims of the Gympie Stinger report that the pain can persist for months, with some
people having to be hospitalized and strapped down due to the intense agony.
A legend about a soldier who committed suicide after accidentally using the plant as toilet
paper may be just that - a legend - but there’s a reason this plant has been of interest to
people studying chemical weapons.
In the wrong hands, it could be a nightmare.
But this next deadly tree isn’t a nightmare.
To most people, it’s a tasty treat.
If you love Pina Coladas, Thai curries, or Almond Joys, you probably love coconuts.
These tall trees are common around tropical regions and are known for their round, hard-to-crack
fruit that contain sweet, tender meat and rich milk.
These are a primary source of food for the native population in the region, being packed
with fat and nutrients.
There’s just one problem - these trees are high up, and occasionally they’ll drop their
rock-like fruits which can weigh over three pounds.
If it falls from a high tree and hits someone square on the head - that could be a nasty
concussion or worse.
While most bonks on the head from a coconut won’t be fatal, there are over seventeen
deaths from coconut falls recorded since the 1770s.
But in Australia, everything is bigger - including the deadly fruits falling from trees.
Meet the Bunya Pine.
We’ve all been bonked on the head by a pinecone, right?
Annoying, but rarely anything dangerous.
But in Australia, the massive Bunya pine has been around since prehistoric days - and with
it comes a constant omnipresent threat of death.
That’s because the Bunya pine can grow to almost a hundred and fifty feet in height.
A fall from that height can make anything dangerous, but the Bunya pine’s pinecones
can grow to a whopping twenty-two pounds.
When they hit the ground, they crack open and expose the edible nuts within.
But if this massive football-shaped cone was to hit a person, it would likely be instant
death.
But not all deadly trees have obvious threats.
That’s why this next one got the name...the Suicide Tree.
Cerbera odollam is a common tree in India and southern Asia, mostly growing in swamps
and marshes.
But while its leaves and flowers make this small tree a pretty sight in the environment,
its seed kernels contain a deadly toxin.
Cerberin can block the calcium ion channels in the heart, causing an irregular heartbeat
that can lead to fatal heart failure.
While it can cause vomiting as a warning sign, this poison is notorious for how hard it is
to detect post-death.
This has made it a popular choice of poison in murders, with over five hundred cases of
Cerbera-related poisoning in only a ten-year period in the Indian state of Kerala.
And all it takes to kill is a single kernel.
The culprits in those deaths are generally human - but these next trees deal out death
all by themselves.
Meet the Sandbox Tree.
The Sandbox Tree, or Hura Crepitans, doesn’t have the powerful poison or deadly weapons
of most of its competitors.
Native to parts of North and South America and Tanzania, it looks like a standard large
tree - except for its extreme method of reproduction.
Its fruits are large pumpkin-shaped balls that don’t wait to be eaten - when they’re
ripe, they explode and launch their seeds.
These powerful explosions can be thrown more than one hundred feet, and any person who
was caught right near an explosion could be seriously injured.
There’s a reason this tree has earned the nickname “The Dynamite Tree”.
And if the exploding fruit bombs weren't enough, this tree is dangerous to handle because of
its many sharp spines on its bark.
But this next tree may be laying a deadly trap.
What is the secret of the Namibian Bottle Tree?
Located in the desert, Pachypodium lealii or the Namibian Bottle Tree is one of the
oddest trees in the world and lives in a harsh climate.
It needs water to survive and there is very little around, so it devotes much of its body
to storing water long-term.
But there are plenty of animals - and even some wandering humans - that would love to
get their hands on that water.
That’s why this tree produces a powerful, toxic latex filled with deadly alkaloids that
makes its water impossible to drink for any other creatures.
Humans have learned not to test their luck - but that doesn’t always save the tree.
Not only can the poison be used to make arrows deadly, but locals are known to use the tree’s
wood to make bowls that they use to poison and trap birds.
But do any of these trees compete with the Manchineel?
While some of these trees may have more potent poisons - and let’s be real, there’s probably
nothing in nature more dangerous than a pine cone the size of a boulder hitting you on
the head - what sets the Manchineel apart is just how thoroughly toxic it is.
The “Death Apple” has the same burning poison in every part of its body.
Most of these plants can be safe for use in many ways, or even essential to the local
ecosystem.
But with the Manchineel, you shouldn’t eat it, or sit under it, or even breathe around
it in many circumstances.
The Manchineel is so toxic that most animals won’t even come near it - a sure sign that
it’s the deadliest tree in the world.
For more on deadly plants, check out “If You See This Plant, Walk Away Fast!”, or
watch this video instead.