Manchineel Explained

The manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella) is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Its native range stretches from tropical southern North America to northern South America.[1]

The name manchineel (sometimes spelled manchioneel or manchineal), as well as the specific epithet mancinella, are from Spanish Spanish; Castilian: manzanilla ('little apple'), from the superficial resemblance of its fruit and leaves to those of an apple tree. It is also called beach apple.

A present-day Spanish name is Spanish; Castilian: manzanilla de la muerte, 'little apple of death'. This refers to the fact that manchineel is one of the most toxic trees in the world: it has milky-white sap that contains numerous toxins and can cause blistering. The sap is present in every part of the tree—bark, leaves, and fruit.[2] [3]

Description

Hippomane mancinella grows up to 15m (49feet) tall. It has reddish-grayish bark, small greenish-yellow flowers, and shiny green leaves. The leaves are simple, alternate, very finely serrated or toothed, and 2- long.[4]

Spikes of small greenish flowers are followed by fruits, which are similar in appearance to an apple, are green or greenish-yellow when ripe. The fruit is poisonous, as is every other part of the tree.[4]

Distribution and habitat

Manchineel is native to the Caribbean, the U.S. state of Florida, the Bahamas, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.

The manchineel tree can be found on coastal beaches and in brackish swamps, where it grows among mangroves. It provides excellent natural windbreaks and its roots stabilize the sand, thus reducing beach erosion.

Conservation

The manchineel tree is listed as an endangered species in Florida.[5]

Toxicity

All parts of the tree contain strong toxins.[6] Its milky white sap contains phorbol and other skin irritants, producing strong allergic contact dermatitis.[7]

Standing beneath the tree during rain will cause blistering of the skin from mere contact with this liquid: even a small drop of rain with the sap in it will cause the skin to blister. Burning the tree may cause ocular injuries if the smoke reaches the eyes.[8] Contact with its milky sap (latex) produces bullous dermatitis, acute keratoconjunctivitis and possibly large corneal epithelial defects.[9]

Although the fruit is potentially fatal if eaten, no such occurrences have been reported in the modern literature.[10] Ingestion can produce severe gastroenteritis with bleeding, shock, and bacterial superinfection, as well as the potential for airway compromise due to edema.[11]

When ingested, the fruit is reportedly "pleasantly sweet" at first, with a subsequent "strange peppery feeling ... gradually progress[ing] to a burning, tearing sensation and tightness of the throat." Symptoms continue to worsen until the patient can "barely swallow solid food because of the excruciating pain and the feeling of a huge obstructing pharyngeal lump."

In some parts of its range, many trees carry a warning sign  - for example on Curaçao  - while others are marked with a red "X" on the trunk to indicate danger. In the French Antilles the trees are often marked with a painted red band roughly 1 metre (3 ft) above the ground.[12]

Although the plant is toxic to many birds and other animals, the black-spined iguana (Ctenosaura similis) is known to eat the fruit and even live among the limbs of the tree.

The tree contains 12-deoxy-5-hydroxyphorbol-6-gamma-7-alpha-oxide, hippomanins, mancinellin, and sapogenin. Phloracetophenone-2,4-dimethylether is present in the leaves, while the fruits possess physostigmine.[13]

A poultice of arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) was used by the Arawak and Taíno as an antidote against such poisons.[14] The Caribs were known to poison the water supply of their enemies with the leaves. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León died shortly after an injury incurred in battle with the Calusa in Florida—being struck by an arrow that had been poisoned with manchineel sap.[15]

Uses

Despite the inherent dangers associated with handling it, the tree has been used as a source of wood by Caribbean furniture makers for centuries. It must be cut and left in the sun to dry the sap. To avoid dangerous contact with the poisonous parts, the tree may be burnt at the base to fell it.[16]

Historical accounts

On the fourth, a party of men were sent to cut wood, as the island apparently afforded plenty of that article; amongst other trees they unluckily cut down several of the manchineel, the juice of which getting into their eyes, rendered them blind for several days.[17]

One day being hugely tormented with mosquitoes or gnats, and as yet unacquainted with the nature of this tree, I cut a branch thereof, to serve me instead of a fan, but all my face swelled the next day and filled with blisters, as if it were burnt to such a degree that I was blind for three days.[18]

The Mangeneel Apple has the smell and appearance of an English Apple, but small, grows on large trees, generally along the Seashore. They are rank poison. I am told that one apple is sufficient to kill 20 people. This poison is of such a malignant nature that a single drop of rain or dew that falls from the tree upon your skin will immediately raise a blister. Neither Fruit or Wood is of any use, that I can learn.[19]

In popular culture

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nosowitz. Dan. 2016-05-19. Do Not Eat, Touch, or Even Inhale the Air Around the Manchineel Tree. 2020-09-16. Atlas Obscura. 2020-09-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20200922032704/https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/whatever-you-do-do-not-eat-touch-or-even-inhale-the-air-around-the-manchineel-tree. live.
  2. Strickland . Nicola. H. . 12 August 2000 . My most unfortunate experience: Eating a manchineel 'beach apple' . British Medical Journal . 321 . 7258 . 428 . 10.1136/bmj.321.7258.428. 0959-8138. 1127797 . 10938053.
  3. Web site: Dean . Signe . The horrifying experience a radiologist had after eating fruit from the 'tree of death' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210824000550/https://www.businessinsider.com/what-you-should-know-about-the-most-dangerous-tree-in-the-world-2016-1?IR=T . 2021-08-24 . 2024-03-06 . Business Insider . en-US.
  4. Web site: 2020-05-19. The Manchineel, or 'Death Apple,' Is the World's Most Dangerous Tree. 2020-09-16. HowStuffWorks. en. 2020-09-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20200916195157/https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/botany/manchineel-tree.htm. live.
  5. Web site: Hippomane mancinella . Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants . Plantatlas.org . 2009-01-23 . 2011-07-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110720102731/http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=2806 . live .
  6. Friedman . Michael G. Andreu and Melissa H. . 24 November 2015 . Hippomane mancinella, Manchineel . live . Edis . School of Forest Resources and Conservation, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida . 2012 . 10 . 10.32473/edis-fr370-2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201001231947/https://journals.flvc.org/edis/article/view/120244 . 2020-10-01 . 2015-11-29 . 222588980. free .
  7. Book: Nellis, David W. . Poisonous Plants and Animals of Florida and the Caribbean . Pineapple Press Inc . 1997 . 978-1-56164-111-6 . 173 . 2016-10-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190331190538/https://books.google.com/books?id=C8xJE2NfQpIC&pg=PA173 . 2019-03-31 . live.
  8. Web site: Janiskee . Bob . 24 April 2009 . National Park Mystery Plant 2: There's Good Reason They Call This Thing "the Death Apple" . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160406202836/http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/04/national-park-mystery-plant-2-there%E2%80%99s-good-reason-they-call-thing-death-apple%E2%80%9D3799 . 2016-04-06 . 2015-11-29 . Nationalparkstraveler.com . National Park Advocates LLC.
  9. Pitts . J F . Barker . N H . Gibbons . D C . Jay . J L . 1 May 1993 . Manchineel keratoconjunctivitis . British Journal of Ophthalmology . 77 . 5 . 284–288 . 10.1136/bjo.77.5.284 . 504506 . 8318464.
  10. Bygbjerg . I.C. . Johansen . H.K. . 1991 . Manchineel poisoning complicated by streptococcal pharyngitis and impetigo . Ugeskr. Laeger . 154 . 1 . 27–28 . 1781062.
  11. Book: Frohne . Dietrich . Poisonous plants: a handbook for doctors, pharmacists, toxicologists, biologists, and veterinarians . Alford . Hans Jürgen Pfänder . 2005 . Timber Press . 0881927503 . 2nd . Portland . Inge.
  12. Web site: Planet . Lonely . Directory . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200917015708/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/caribbean/practical-information/directory/a/nar/d7b8f052-8662-430c-b30d-6a8d74977b35/357952 . 2020-09-17 . 2020-09-16 . Lonely Planet . en.
  13. Web site: Hippomane mancinella . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20041110134449/http://sun.ars-grin.gov:8080/npgspub/xsql/duke/plantdisp.xsql?taxon=475 . 2004-11-10 . 27 January 2009 . Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases . United States Department of Agriculture.
  14. Book: Jones, David E . Poison Arrows: North American Indian Hunting and Warfare . . 2007 . 978-0-292-71428-1 . 29 . 2009-01-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130622112120/http://books.google.com/books?id=m2v8akdyZfwC . 2013-06-22 . live.
  15. Book: Grunwald, Michael . The Swamp . Simon & Schuster . 2007 . 978-0-7432-5107-5 . 25 . Chapter 2: The Intruders . 2016-10-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190331172925/https://books.google.com/books?id=olHjhlx0Em8C . 2019-03-31 . live.
  16. Web site: 19 May 2016 . Do Not Eat, Touch, Or Even Inhale the Air Around the Manchineel Tree - Atlas Obscura . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210703222559/https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/whatever-you-do-do-not-eat-touch-or-even-inhale-the-air-around-the-manchineel-tree . 3 July 2021 . 3 November 2021.
  17. Book: An Authentic Narrative of a Voyage Performed by Captain Cook and Captain Clerke, in His Majesty's Ships Resolution and Discovery, During Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780: In Search of a Northwest Passage Between the Continents of Asia and America, Including a Faithful Account of All Their Discoveries, and the Unfortunate Death of Captain Cook . G. Robinson, J. Sewell and J. Debrett . 1783 . 60 . 2016-11-27 . 2015-03-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150331024754/http://books.google.com/books?id=YJQBAAAAYAAJ . live .
  18. The Buccaneers of America; Part I, Chapter IV
  19. Book: Cresswell, Nicholas . The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell: 1774–1777 . 2007 . Applewood Books . 9781429005869 . 2017-09-04 . 2022-02-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220221183217/https://books.google.com/books?id=vePGIIXnfLYC . live .
  20. Web site: Gallica: L'africaine : opéra en 5 actes / par Eugène Scribe ; musique de Meyerbeer. 1924 . Bibliothèque nationale de France . 2016-06-19 . 2016-10-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161001205626/http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/CadresFenetre?O=NUMM-27245&I=8&M=chemindefer . live .
  21. Book: Allen, Grant . The Beckoning Hand, and Other Stories . 1887 . The Floating Press . Auckland.
  22. Allen, Grant (1887). "The Beckoning Hand". As transcribed on Project Gutenberg web site. Retrieved on 2019-08-14 from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38531/38531-h/38531-h.htm#THE_BECKONING_HAND .
  23. Book: White, Susan . Lonely places, dangerous ground: Nicholas Ray in American cinema . 2014 . State University of New York (SUNY) Press . 978-1-4384-4981-4 . Rybin . Steven . Albany NY . Chapter 14: Nicholas Ray's wilderness films: word, law, and landscape . 173 . Scheibel . Will . https://books.google.com/books?id=D6vBAgAAQBAJ&q=cottonmouth+manchineel+%22wind+across+the+everglades%22&pg=PA173 . 2020-10-07 . 2022-02-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220221183217/https://books.google.com/books?id=D6vBAgAAQBAJ&q=cottonmouth+manchineel+%22wind+across+the+everglades%22&pg=PA173 . live .
  24. Web site: Most dangerous tree . Guinness World Records . 2015-11-29 . 2015-12-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151204122051/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-dangerous-tree-/ . live .
  25. Web site: 24 October 2016 . Little Apple of Death . 26 May 2021 . Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services - Division of Plant Industry . 23 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210823224058/https://fdacsdpi.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/little-apple-of-death/ . live .