The gympie-gympie tree (Dendrocnide moroides) – also known as the stinging tree – is primarily found in Australian rainforests and certainly doesn’t look all that threatening at first glance. It stands at a maximum of 10 metres tall, and its melodic name comes from a language of the indigenous Gubbi Gubbi people of south-eastern Queensland.
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You don’t want to get too close to this tree – its stem, leaves, and fruit are all covered in fine hairs that, when touched, inject toxin into the skin, causing severe stinging that can last for days, weeks or even longer.
Among the first to document the painful effects of the gympie-gympie tree was road surveyor A.C. Macmillan, writing in a letter in 1866 that his horse “was stung, got mad, and died within two hours.”
In 1963, conservation officer Ernie Rider was slapped in the face and torso by one of the tree’s branches – he reported that the pain persisted for two whole years and described it as “ten times worse than anything else.”
The pain has also been described as “being electrocuted and set on fire at the same time” by entomologist Marina Hurley. Researchers have been known to develop severe allergies after continuous contact with the tree.
In a paper published 2020, the venoms of the Dendrocnide species were compared to neurotoxins found in spider and cone snail venoms.
The tree poses a risk even if you make sure you don’t touch it, as just being in close vicinity puts you in danger of inhaling the toxic hairs, potentially leading to respiratory complications.
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Top image: Dendrocnide moroides, detailed photograph showing stinging hairs. Credit: N. Teerink, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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