When your profession is based on plants, you can become monotonous and want to find new emotions. Something for which, in fact, you don’t even need to leave the world botany. There’s nothing more to see Daniel Emlyn-JonesAn English botanist who became famous on social media for knowingly and voluntarily keeping one of the world’s most diseased plants in his home.
This is about Dendrochnid moroidWithbetter known as Gympie Gympie or suicide sting. This last name gives a small idea of just how painful this plant can be. In fact, it’s so dangerous that Emlyn-Jones himself has it. inside the cellto avoid your own temptations or the temptations of people who visit your plant collection.
native tropical forests of eastern and northern Australia, the Moluccas and Indonesia, this plant contains an unforgettable neurotoxin for those who come across it. Those who have touched it either accidentally or intentionally describe the feeling as annoying. There are even stories of people who in the past they came to commit suicide not to endure pain. In addition, this may cause allergic reactions without even touching it. Of course, although there are those who talk about it as the most dangerous plant in the world, in fact it is not. And the fact is that although it is fatal to animals such as dogs or horses, it does not usually kill humans. Instead, there are plants that are so poisonous that they can be deadly.
Crazy horses and military suicides
The first person to describe the action of the plant Gympie Gympie was an Australian Highway Inspector AC Macmillan. In 1866 he reported that while working outdoors, his horse accidentally hit the plant. Shortly thereafter, he began to act desperate, becoming more and more insane, and eventually died within two hours. This is not the only case reported in horses. In fact, there are stories of some who have come to jump off a cliff in the face of the pain the sting factory.
People are not usually killed unless the contact is very high. However, the sensation of pain can become so intense that there are those who commit suicide because of it. This was told in 1994 by a former military Cyril Bromley In testimonies collected later Australian geographic. In his case, he stumbled upon the plant during maneuvers during World War II. Immediately, he felt such severe pain that he had to be taken to the hospital, where he was tied to the bed for three weeks. But at least he lived to tell about it, because he also remembered another army officer who, after accidentally using a Gympie-Gympie sheet to dry himself when he was peeing, the pain was so intense that he shot himself not tolerate.
The other evidence collected on the same medium belongs to Ernie RyderSenior Conservation Officer, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. In his case, the encounter with the plant occurred in 1963. He describes it as giant hands try to crush his chest. In addition, the pain was unbearable for several days. And though the worst eventually receded still reactivates when taking a cold shower.
This plant also causes allergies.
Interestingly, this plant does not work on some animals that feed on it, for example, on some insects and marsupials. The reasons are not clear, so this is part of the research area of scientists such as Marina Hurleyfrom the University of New South Wales.
But the Gympie-Gympie investigation comes with a price that she, too, has had to pay. And the fact is that, without even touching the plant, it has already generated some allergic symptoms requiring hospitalization. He also made physical contact with her and describes the feeling as burn and electrocute in the same time.
This is an extremely unpleasant sensation, which, oddly enough, persists over time. It doesn’t matter if the herb is fresh or dry, it still causes the same pain. In fact, in an article for Talkshe says that in her case, the most serious contact with the plant occurred when she bent down to pick up her glove and accidentally touched dry leave.
What causes the Gympie-Gympie effects?
This plant contains a number hair which end is the flask is composed of silica, calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate. It is like a kind of needle, which, piercing the skin, decomposes, releasing neurotoxins responsible for this disproportionate tingling effect.
Lesions can be treated with a solution dilute hydrochloric acid and one wax stripe.g. wax to remove hair. However, even in this case, the effect can last for a long time.
As for the allergy experienced by Marina Hurley and many rural workersThis may be due to the inhalation of hair that remains in the air. However, this is something that has not been studied in depth.
At the moment, people who may come into contact with the plant at work should use masks, gloves and all kinds of protective materials avoid this dangerous bite.
What is the most dangerous plant in the world?
Some media supported Emlyn-Jones’s audacity, claiming that Gympie Gympie is the most dangerous plant in the world. However, to find out if they are right, we must first answer what we consider dangerous.
If under dangerous we consider plants that are deadly to humans, then there are other plants that are much more dangerous. For example, Belladonna (belladonna atropa) can lead to death by swallowing just two of its small berries.
On the other hand, if you look at how painful it is to the touch, then there are even more dangerous ones than jimpy-gympies. For example, death daisy (hippo manchine), is considered by the Guinness Book of Records as the most dangerous tree in the world. And no less.
Contact with its juice on the skin can cause severe burns and may cause eye contact blindness. In addition, something as simple as being near the smoke from burning them can also be very dangerous. For this reason, these trees are usually always accompanied by warning signs about their danger.
Now, in fact, if we dwell on the deaths it causes per year, there is a plant much more dangerous than death chamomile, Gympie Gympie, or even belladonna: tobacco. The problem is that people are so peculiar that we deliberately eat this plant, accompanied by extremely dangerous substances. There are no cages or warning signs.
Source: Hiper Textual
