With its poison in the body you will experience intense pain that will drift to the joints and can cause inflammation
Among the lists of most poisonous animals on the planet we find species like the sea wasp or the blue-ringed octopus, but… what about plants? Any person with common sense would be careful with the fruits of an unknown plant, since it is known by all that there are dozens of species that produce poisonous berries for humans. However, the particular case of this plant goes further, since just by touching it you will experience a sharp pain which can last for weeks depending on the person.
We are talking about the giant Australian tree Dendrocnide excelsawhich is nicknamed gympie-gympie. It is a subtropical plant, very present in Australian forests and with large rounded leaves. Just as animals usually warn of its lethality with vivid colors, this plant achieves the opposite, and goes very unnoticed among the rest of the trees and shrubs. But don’t be fooled harmless appearancesince just by touching one of the leaves you will experience a discharge of pain that compares with a spider or scorpion bite.
Its leaves have served to discover a new family of toxins
Analyzing the leaves of this plant, a group of professional teams from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland have discovered a new family of toxins, which they have named “gympietides”, in honor of the peculiar nickname given to the tree. This great plant comes from the nettle family, but its “sting” is much worse than any example you can think of within the European flora. the sensation of pain can last for weeks.
The leaves of the tree are covered with needle-like appendages, which are called trichomes. These trichomes measure about 5 millimeters longand although they look like hairs, when they penetrate your skin they inject you with a powerful toxin.
Just by touching the leaves you will experience a sharp and very intense sensation of pain, which increases over the next 30 minutes. Later, the victims assure that waves of severe pain in the joints, and even parts of the body such as the armpits or the neck can swell. The excruciating pain at first fades within a few hours, but these “waves” of joint pain may recur periodically for days, even weeks.
The positive part of having discovered such a deadly poison is that we can now get to work on an antidote and remedy. Research teams are already developing a balm or gel to mitigate the effect of the sting, but the most interesting thing is that understanding how this toxin can release so much pain can be very useful in the development and production of new painkillers.