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D. moroides is notorious for its extremely painful sting which may leave victims suffering for weeks or even months. It is reputed to be the most venomous plant in Australia, if not the world.
Known as Gympie-gympie in Australia and salat in Papua New Guinea, contact with this leaf can result in human death, more often extreme pain that can last for months.
The agony caused by brushing against the notorious Gympie-Gympie tree can last for weeks, even months, but researchers hope its toxins may one day be converted to provide non-opioid pain relief without harmful side effects.
And all it takes is a moment for a gympie-gympie to strike. "If touched for even a second, the tiny hair-like needles will deliver a burning sensation that will intensify for the next 20 to 30 minutes," Alnwick Garden said, "continuing for weeks or even months."
Therapy and treatment
Some consider that the antidote for the poisoning by Gympie could be the plant Cunjevoi (lat. Alocasia brisbanensis), but there is no strong evidence to confirm this. In most cases the poisoned surface is treated by a 10% solution of hydrochloric acid.
These include the nocturnal leaf-eating chrysomelid beetle and even a small marsupial known as the red-legged pademelon. Humans can eat the juicy fruit of the gympie-gympie, but only if they have taken the time to properly and painstakingly remove every one of its hairs.
Effects of the Neurotoxin
Mike Leahy explains gympie-gympie's deadly effects: The first thing you'll feel is a really intense burning sensation and this grows over the next half hour, becoming more and more painful.
Poppies have been a source of pain relief for centuries. The Egyptians chewed poppy seeds to reduce pain, and the seeds of Papaver somniferum before the poppy is ripe do contain pain relieving alkaloids. The sap can be turned into opium, or combined with alcohol to make laudanum, or turned into morphine, or codeine.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have enlisted one of the oldest known medicinal plants as a potent painkiller. Euphorbia resinfera , a cactus-like plant, is a member of the euphorb family, of which there about 2000 species. The active ingredient, resiniferatoxin, was isolated in the 1970s.
Morphine, a strong painkiller commonly prescribed after surgery or for broken bones, is an extract of the opium poppy that, today, is synthesised in labs.
The gympie-gympie is one of four species of stinging tree or brush in Australia, all part of the nettle family, though the gympie-gympie is by far the most painful. The notoriously painful toxin is delivered through tiny hairy filaments that cover the plant's stems, leaves, and appetizing-looking fruits.
Place in the ecosystem
The Australian stinging trees are native, and are eaten by some mammals, birds and insects without harming them, as well as providing places to live.
The young leaves have more stinging hairs than mature ones. Botanical name: Dendrocnide excelsa, (also known as Laportea gigas), Dendrocnide moroides, (also known as Laportea moroides). General description: These species are common in Queensland rainforests especially on the edges or in disturbed areas.
These trees are called gympie-gympie in the language of the Indigenous Gubbi Gubbi people, and Dendrocnide in botanical Latin (meaning “tree stinger”). A casual split-second touch on an arm by a leaf or stem is enough to induce pain for hours or days. In some cases the pain has been reported to last for weeks.
This perennial originates in Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. Though covered in stinging "hairs" that act as needles injecting passersby with formic acid, it loses its sting when dried or cooked. Also known as nettles, common nettles, nettle leaf, and seven minute itch.
The fruit of these trees look a bit like mulberries, but can be white, pink and dark red in colour. The gympie-gympie is thought to have the most painful sting. The leaves of the gympie-gympie can range in size from a thumbnail to more than 50cm wide.
Stinging nettle
The leaves and young stems of this herbaceous plant are fitted with stinging hairs tipped with formic acid and other irritants. If touched, these needle-like hairs inject the stinging acid into the skin, triggering a burning, tingling sensation and an itchy rash.
Cooking or drying neutralises the toxic components, and nettles can be used as a tea or in soup, blanched for a salad or even added to pizza. Nettles are high in nutrients such iron, magnesium and nitrogen. If you get them out before they set seed they can be added to compost or dug in as a green manure crop.
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), is a weedy perennial plant found in parts of the United States and Canada, and in the temperate parts of Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. Contact with the hairs on the stems and leaves will release toxins that can cause severe skin irritation.
excelsa. Known colloquially as the gympie gympie (from the Gubbi Gubbi/ Kabi Kabi name for the plant, gimpi gimpi), gympie stinger, and giant stinging tree (D. excelsa), this plant has the dubious honour of being arguably the most painful plant in the world.
Where Does Gympie-Gympie Grow? Primarily found in tropical areas of northeastern Australia, gympie-gympie grows prolifically in rainforest clearings and along creek lines. These plants prefer moist, sheltered areas where the canopy is clear enough for them to get ample sunlight.
One of the world's most venomous plants which causes pain like being "electrocuted and set on fire at the same time" has come to Northumberland. The Dendrocnide moroides, known as gympie-gympie, has been introduced to Alnwick Garden's Poison Garden, where it will stay under lock and key.