Thread by @DrSueMoss

Even in the Poison Garden, this little guy is in isolation.

Why? Because it is one of the most venomous and dangerous plants in the world - if you touch it, the sensation is likened to being burned and electrocuted at the same time, and the effects can persist for YEARS.

a 🧵

Dendrocnides moroides, also known as the stinging tree, or gympie gympie plant, is a native of Australia. And not one you want to get on the wrong side of.

The plant is covered in hairs, called trichomes, which are like little hypodermic needles.

📸 wiki

They are the same kind of stingers as stinging nettles - they share a family - but this is WAY worse. The needles break off inside the skin at the slightest touch, and continue to release their toxin for months or years after, when touched or bathed or get warm

📸 India times

Equally, if they are inhaled, expect sneezing, nosebleeds and possibly major respiratory damage.

The hairs persist, and it is still possible to be stung by specimens collected and dried 100 years ago.

📸 electronic micrograph image of hairs by Marina Hurley

The toxin still isn't fully understood, but an associated peptide was named 'gympietide' after the plant in 2020, through ongoing research.

It is now being used to research future painkillers.

There is no antidote for the toxin which is reported to have forced people to be tied to beds for the pain, horses to go mad and at least one person to end their own life.

The best treatment seems to be wax or sticky tape to try to remove the hairs, but with limited success.

So I'm personally quite pleased that it's in a cabinet in Alnwick - and I'm sure their horticultural team are too.

But what a plant! 😱🌱

You can read more from @AlnwickGarden here : alnwickgarden.com/2023/07/04/gym…

Wow - the stinging tree is popular!

There's more fun plants, science and sapphics in my book:



Or check out more cool plants and gardens at https://t.co/cla6ZXkApE 🙂 https://t.co/EODjZiWKR7suzannemoss.co.uk/library
rhs.org.uk