Manchineel

{{Short description|Poisonous plant from tropical North and South America}} {{Speciesbox |name = Manchineel tree |image = Hippomane mancinella (fruit).jpg |image_caption = Fruit and foliage |genus = Hippomane |species = mancinella |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 18 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). |author2=IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group |date=2019 |title=''Hippomane mancinella'' |volume=2019 |article-number=e.T144316752A149054389 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T144316752A149054389.en |access-date=18 November 2021}}</ref> |status2 = G5 |status2_system = TNC |status2_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=''Hippomane mancinella'' |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.136967/Hippomane_mancinella |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=24 December 2022}}</ref> |authority = L. |synonyms_ref =<ref>{{Cite POWO |title=''Hippomane mancinella'' L. |id=349995-1 |access-date=2025-04-26 }}</ref> |synonyms = * ''Hippomane dioica'' <small>Rottb.</small> * ''Mancinella venenata'' <small>Tussac.</small> }}

The '''manchineel tree''' ('''''Hippomane mancinella'''''), also known as the '''tree of death''', is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Its native range stretches from tropical southern North America to northern South America.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nosowitz|first=Dan|date=2016-05-19|title=Do Not Eat, Touch, or Even Inhale the Air Around the Manchineel Tree|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/whatever-you-do-do-not-eat-touch-or-even-inhale-the-air-around-the-manchineel-tree|access-date=2020-09-16|website=Atlas Obscura|archive-date=2020-09-22|archive-url=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|url-status=live}}</ref>

The name ''manchineel'' (sometimes spelled ''manchioneel'' or ''manchineal''), as well as the specific epithet ''mancinella'', are from Spanish {{lang|es|manzanilla}} ('little apple'), from the superficial resemblance of its fruit and leaves to those of an apple tree. It is also called '''beach apple'''.<ref name=:0/>

A present-day Spanish name is {{lang|es|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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Strickland |first=Nicola. H. |date=12 August 2000 |title=My most unfortunate experience: Eating a manchineel 'beach apple' |journal=British Medical Journal |volume=321 |issue=7258 |page=428 |doi=10.1136/bmj.321.7258.428|issn=0959-8138|pmc=1127797 |pmid=10938053}}</ref><ref name="alert">{{Cite web |last=Dean |first=Signe |title=The horrifying experience a radiologist had after eating fruit from the 'tree of death' |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/what-you-should-know-about-the-most-dangerous-tree-in-the-world-2016-1 |url-status=live |archive-url=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 |archive-date=2021-08-24 |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Description== ''Hippomane mancinella'' grows up to {{convert|15|m|ft|abbr=off}} 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 {{convert|2|-|4|in|cm|0|abbr=off|order=flip}} long.<ref name="science.howstuffworks.com">{{Cite web|date=2020-05-19|title=The Manchineel, or 'Death Apple,' Is the World's Most Dangerous Tree|url=https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/botany/manchineel-tree.htm|access-date=2020-09-16|website=HowStuffWorks|language=en|archive-date=2020-09-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916195157/https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/botany/manchineel-tree.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> [[File:Hippomane mancinella MHNT.BOT.2016.24.57.jpg|thumb|''Hippomane mancinella'' MHNT]]

Spikes of small greenish flowers are followed by fruits, which are similar in appearance to an apple, are round-shaped and are green or greenish-yellow when ripe.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 March 2020 |title=Insights into the Interaction between the Monophagous Tephritid Fly Anastrepha acris and its Highly Toxic Host Hippomane mancinella (Euphorbiaceae) |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10886-020-01164-8 |url-status=live |access-date=3 April 2026 |website=Springer Nature Link}}</ref> The fruit is poisonous, as is every other part of the tree.<ref name="science.howstuffworks.com"/>

== Distribution and habitat == Manchineel is native to the Caribbean, the U.S. state of Florida, the Bahamas, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.<ref>{{GRIN|accessdate=2009-01-27}}</ref>

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.<ref name="alert" />

== Conservation == The manchineel tree is listed as an endangered species in Florida.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=2806 |title=Hippomane mancinella |website=Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants |publisher=Plantatlas.org |access-date=2009-01-23 |archive-date=2011-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720102731/http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=2806 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Toxicity == [[File:Botanical study - The Manzanilla Tree taken at Bocca chica - Botanical-k06526.jpg|thumb|Botanical study, captioned "The Manzanilla Tree taken at Bocca chica to show / the men that they might neither cut nor sleep near it, a bow was pinned at the top of every Sergeant's tent, in order to make the soldiers / acquainted with and to avoid it... F.M: J.G: (?) March the 12th 1741" – a reference to Vice Admiral Edward Vernon's invasion fleet, before his defeat at the Battle of Cartagena de Indias ]]

All parts of the tree contain strong toxins.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Friedman |first=Michael G. Andreu and Melissa H. |date=24 November 2015 |title=Hippomane mancinella, Manchineel |journal=Edis |publisher=School of Forest Resources and Conservation, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida |volume=2012 |issue=10 |doi=10.32473/edis-fr370-2012 |s2cid=222588980|doi-access=free }}</ref> The tree contains 12-deoxy-5-hydroxyphorbol-6-gamma-7-alpha-oxide, furocoumarins, sapogenines, hippomanins, mancinellin and other phorbol esters, which are responsible for the manchineel's toxicity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hippomane mancinella |url=http://sun.ars-grin.gov:8080/npgspub/xsql/duke/plantdisp.xsql?taxon=475 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041110134449/http://sun.ars-grin.gov:8080/npgspub/xsql/duke/plantdisp.xsql?taxon=475 |archive-date=2004-11-10 |access-date=27 January 2009 |website=Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture}}</ref>

Its milky white sap produces strong allergic contact dermatitis.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nellis |first=David W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C8xJE2NfQpIC&pg=PA173 |title=Poisonous Plants and Animals of Florida and the Caribbean |publisher=Pineapple Press Inc |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-56164-111-6 |page=173 |access-date=2016-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331190538/https://books.google.com/books?id=C8xJE2NfQpIC&pg=PA173 |archive-date=2019-03-31 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Janiskee |first=Bob |date=24 April 2009 |title=National Park Mystery Plant 2: There's Good Reason They Call This Thing "the Death Apple" |url=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 |url-status=live |archive-url=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 |archive-date=2016-04-06 |access-date=2015-11-29 |website=Nationalparkstraveler.com |publisher=National Park Advocates LLC}}</ref> Contact with its milky sap (latex) produces bullous dermatitis, acute keratoconjunctivitis and possibly large corneal epithelial defects.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pitts |first1=J F |last2=Barker |first2=N H |last3=Gibbons |first3=D C |last4=Jay |first4=J L |date=1 May 1993 |title=Manchineel keratoconjunctivitis |journal=British Journal of Ophthalmology |volume=77 |issue=5 |pages=284–288 |doi=10.1136/bjo.77.5.284 |pmc=504506 |pmid=8318464}}</ref>

Although the fruit is potentially fatal if eaten, no such occurrences have been reported in modern literature.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bygbjerg |first1=I.C. |last2=Johansen |first2=H.K. |year=1991 |title=Manchineel poisoning complicated by streptococcal pharyngitis and impetigo |journal=Ugeskr. Laeger |volume=154 |issue=1 |pages=27–28 |pmid=1781062}}</ref> Ingestion can produce severe gastroenteritis with bleeding, shock, and bacterial superinfection, as well as the potential for airway compromise due to edema.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Frohne |first1=Dietrich |title=Poisonous plants: a handbook for doctors, pharmacists, toxicologists, biologists, and veterinarians |last2=Alford |first2=Hans Jürgen Pfänder |date=2005 |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=0-88192-750-3 |edition=2nd |location=Portland |translator-last=Inge}}{{page needed|date=May 2019}}</ref>

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."<ref name=":0" />

In some parts of its range, many trees carry a warning sign – for example on the island 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Planet |first=Lonely |title=Directory |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/caribbean/practical-information/directory/a/nar/d7b8f052-8662-430c-b30d-6a8d74977b35/357952 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917015708/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/caribbean/practical-information/directory/a/nar/d7b8f052-8662-430c-b30d-6a8d74977b35/357952 |archive-date=2020-09-17 |access-date=2020-09-16 |website=Lonely Planet |language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":1" />

A poultice of arrowroot (''Maranta arundinacea'') was used by the Arawak and Taíno as an antidote against such poisons.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=David E |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m2v8akdyZfwC |title=Poison Arrows: North American Indian Hunting and Warfare |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-292-71428-1 |page=29 |access-date=2009-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622112120/http://books.google.com/books?id=m2v8akdyZfwC |archive-date=2013-06-22 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Caribs were known to poison the water supply of their enemies with the leaves.<ref name=":3" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grunwald |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=olHjhlx0Em8C |title=The Swamp |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7432-5107-5 |page=25 |chapter=Chapter 2: The Intruders |access-date=2016-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331172925/https://books.google.com/books?id=olHjhlx0Em8C |archive-date=2019-03-31 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== 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.<ref name="alert" /> To avoid dangerous contact with the poisonous parts, the tree may be burnt at the base to fell it.<ref>{{cite web |date=19 May 2016 |title=Do Not Eat, Touch, Or Even Inhale the Air Around the Manchineel Tree - Atlas Obscura |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/whatever-you-do-do-not-eat-touch-or-even-inhale-the-air-around-the-manchineel-tree |url-status=live |archive-url=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 |archive-date=3 July 2021 |access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref>

== Historical accounts == thumb|right|Manchineel trees are often signposted as dangerous. <!--*Anthony Horowitz, Alex Rider series, book 8, ''Crocodile Tears'', chapter "Greenfields", page 177.

<blockquote>Inside the Poison Dome we grow some of the deadliest plants on the planet, including water hemlock, deadly nightshade, elephant's ear, death cap mushrooms and castor beans. The manzanilla tree has attractive fruit which you may choose to swallow. If you do so, it will kill you instantly. There is also a white resin dripping out of it which will blister your skin and blind you.</blockquote>--> * William Wade Ellis, ship's surgeon for James Cook on his final voyage, wrote:

<blockquote>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.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJQBAAAAYAAJ |title=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 |publisher=G. Robinson, J. Sewell and J. Debrett |year=1783 |page=60 |access-date=2016-11-27 |archive-date=2015-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331024754/http://books.google.com/books?id=YJQBAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> There is no record of the wood being burnt. <ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Stewart |first=Amy |title=Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities |date=2009 |publisher=Algonquin Books}}</ref></blockquote>

* Alexandre Exquemelin wrote in ''The Buccaneers of America'' of his experience with the "tree called mancanilla, or dwarf-apple-tree" when in Hispaniola:

<blockquote>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.<ref>''The Buccaneers of America''; Part I, Chapter IV</ref></blockquote>

* Nicholas Cresswell, in his journal entry for Friday, September 16, 1774, mentions:

<blockquote>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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cresswell |first=Nicholas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vePGIIXnfLYC |title=The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell: 1774–1777 |year=2007 |publisher=Applewood Books |isbn=978-1-4290-0586-9 |access-date=2017-09-04 |archive-date=2022-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221183217/https://books.google.com/books?id=vePGIIXnfLYC |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>

==In popular culture== * In Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera ''L'Africaine'' (1865), the heroine Sélika dies by inhaling the perfume of the manchineel tree's blossoms.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/CadresFenetre?O=NUMM-27245&I=8&M=chemindefer |title=Gallica: L'africaine: opéra en 5 actes / par Eugène Scribe; musique de Meyerbeer. 1924 |website=Bibliothèque nationale de France |access-date=2016-06-19 |archive-date=2016-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001205626/http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/CadresFenetre?O=NUMM-27245&I=8&M=chemindefer |url-status=live }}</ref> * In the story "The Beckoning Hand", in the 1887 collection of that name by Grant Allen, a manchineel (spelled "manchineal" here) leaf is rolled in a cigarette in an attempt to poison a person.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allen |first=Grant |title=The Beckoning Hand, and Other Stories |date=1887 |publisher=The Floating Press |location=Auckland}}</ref><ref>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 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724170631/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38531/38531-h/38531-h.htm#THE_BECKONING_HAND |date=2018-07-24 }}.</ref> * In the film ''Wind Across the Everglades'' (1958), a notorious poacher named Cottonmouth (played by Burl Ives) ties a victim to the trunk of a manchineel tree, which a character explains as "the only tree that carves its initials into you."<ref>{{Cite book |last=White |first=Susan |title=Lonely places, dangerous ground: Nicholas Ray in American cinema |date=2014 |publisher=State University of New York (SUNY) Press |isbn=978-1-4384-4981-4 |editor-last=Rybin |editor-first=Steven |location=Albany New York |chapter=Chapter 14: Nicholas Ray's wilderness films: word, law, and landscape |page=173 |editor-last2=Scheibel |editor-first2=Will |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6vBAgAAQBAJ&q=cottonmouth+manchineel+%22wind+across+the+everglades%22&pg=PA173 |access-date=2020-10-07 |archive-date=2022-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221183217/https://books.google.com/books?id=D6vBAgAAQBAJ&q=cottonmouth+manchineel+%22wind+across+the+everglades%22&pg=PA173 |url-status=live }}</ref> * The tree is recorded as the world's most dangerous tree by Guinness World Records.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-dangerous-tree-/ |title=Most dangerous tree |website=Guinness World Records |access-date=2015-11-29 |archive-date=2015-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151204122051/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-dangerous-tree-/ |url-status=live }}</ref>  * In the television series ''Death in Paradise'' (series 13, episode 3), a person is killed by being given small doses of poison from the tree. * In the book series ''Wings of Fire'', the plant was referenced in book 13. * In the book Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart, the plant is used for an example in one chapter <ref name=":2" />

==See also== * ''Hura crepitans'' * Bahamian dry forests * Saba * Cape Sable, Florida<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 October 2016 |title=Little Apple of Death |url=https://fdacsdpi.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/little-apple-of-death/ |access-date=26 May 2021 |website=Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services - Division of Plant Industry |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823224058/https://fdacsdpi.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/little-apple-of-death/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Hippomane mancinella}} {{Wikispecies|Hippomane mancinella}} * [https://www.fieldmuseum.org/science/blog/useful-links-neotropical-flowering-plant-identification Useful Links for Neotropical Flowering Plant Identification] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116144340/https://www.fieldmuseum.org/science/blog/useful-links-neotropical-flowering-plant-identification |date=2017-01-16 }}

Category:Hippomaneae Category:Trees of Northern America Category:Trees of Central America Category:Trees of the Caribbean Category:Trees of Colombia Category:Trees of Venezuela Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Medicinal plants