When we think of plants, we generally think of gardens, flowers, vegetables, and herbs. There are plants we keep in our home, in our garden, or visit when out in nature. Some plants are pretty and smell nice, some provide shade, some are even used for medicinal purposes. Then there are those we rarely think of. Poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, all of which tell us in their name to stay away. There are others though, that can be far more deceiving. The Gympie-Gympie plant is an excellent example. Based on its name alone, one would think it’s something small, cute, harmless. In reality, the gympie-gympie plant is one of the most dangerous plants you can come into contact with.
The dendrocnide moroides, also known as the gympie-gympie plant, stinging brush, mulberry-leaved stinger, moonlighter, or the suicide plant, is common to the rainforest areas in north-east Australia. It can also be found in Indonesia, and as the plant requires sunlight to germinate, it is most often found in rainforest clearings and along creek lines and tracks.
It’s common name, gympie-gympie, comes from the language of the indigenous Gubbi Gubbi people of South Queensland. This plant grows as a single-stemmed plant, reaching anywhere from 3 feet 3 inches – 9 feet 10 inches. It has large, heart-shaped, leaves that range anywhere from 5-9 inches long and 4-7 inches wide.
The thing that makes this plant so dangerous is its stinging hairs, which cover the whole of the plant. These hairs, when touched, deliver a potent neurotoxin by injecting a toxin via the small bulb that is found on the tip of the stinging hairs, which is broken off and penetrates the skin. These hairs make the leaves look as though they are covered with a soft sort of fur, making them appear soft and inviting to touch. Interestingly, the plant produces a fruit, which looks like a bright red raspberry at first, but upon closer inspection, you will find that it is simply clumped. The fruit can be safely eaten by humans, so long as the stinging hairs are removed first.
The effects of the gympie-gympie plant were first documented in 1866. A.C. Macmillan, a road surveyor in North Queensland, reported to his boss that his packhorse “was stung, got mad, and died within two hours.” Fortunately, furry animals aren’t usually bothered by the plant, though there are numerous stories of horses getting stung and “jumping in agony off cliffs.”
Marina Hurley, an entomologist and ecologist, spent a vast amount of time studying “stinging trees” which includes the gympie-gympie. In 1994, a former Australian serviceman, Cyril Bromley, wrote to Hurley, describing the aftereffects of falling into the plant. It was during his military training during World War II, and he ended up strapped to a bed for three weeks. He was administered a multitude of treatments, none of which proved successful. Said he was sent “as mad as a cut snake” by the pain. Cyril also related a story of how an officer mistakenly used the leaf of the plant for “toilet purposes” and shot himself to escape the agony.
Hurley’s own encounter with the plant led to the discovery that the gympie-gympie, and stinging trees in general, can cause intense sneezing, nose bleeds, and possibly major respiratory damage if you remain in close proximity for more than 20 minutes, without protection. You can feel the effects first with a tingling sensation in your nose, followed by incessant running/dripping. Then the sneezing starts, intense and continuous bouts of sneezing.
“Being stung is the worst kind of pain you can imagine – like being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time,” said Marina, who at the time was a postgraduate student at James Cook University investigating the herbivores that eat stinging trees.
The last story we will relate today is that of Ernie Rider. One day in 1963, he encountered a stinging tree. It touched his face, arms, and chest. “I remember it feeling like there were giant hands trying to squash my chest,” he said. “For two or three days the pain was almost unbearable; I couldn’t work or sleep, then it was pretty bad pain for another fortnight or so. The stinging persisted for two years and recurred every time I had a cold shower.”
Years later, Ernie would continue to maintain that it was perhaps the worst experience of his life. “There’s nothing to rival it; it’s 10 times worse than anything else – scrub ticks, scrub itch and itchy-jack sting included. Stinging trees are a real and present danger.”
It shouldn’t need saying, but just in case, given the severe stinging properties the gympie-gympie plant has, it is never recommended for gardening or landscaping purposes and should be avoided in its native habitat.
Nature is both beautiful and deadly. After all, this is just a plant. Did you know cyanide comes from a bacteria?