World’s most poisonous plant has driven people to suicide — like the man who accidentally used the leaves as toilet paper and wound up shooting himself
Don’t put your thumb on this green.
Many gardeners might not be aware of the lethal plant thought to be the most toxic in the world called the Gympie-Gympie.
The ghoulish greenery sports tiny hair-like needles full of poison and has a sting so painful it has driven some people to contemplate suicide, The Mirror reported.
The excruciating sensation of coming into contact with the hair of the Gympie-Gympie, which can grow up to 32 feet tall, feels both like electrocution and burning — a sensation that can last for weeks, or even months.
In some extreme instances, the persistent pain has led sufferers to take their own lives.
Originating from Australia, the plant’s deadly effects were discovered in 1866, after a road surveyor’s horse suffered a fatal sting.
Another harrowing case was documented when an Australian soldier endured weeks of ineffective treatments following a painful encounter with the needles during World War II. The soldier eventually succumbed to madness.
Another reported incident involved a person who used the leaves as toilet paper, not realizing what plant he was picking up. This event supposedly drove him to shoot himself.
The Australian stinging tree, dubbed Dendrocnide moroides by scientists, was put on public display at a botanical garden in the UK last year.
Due to the plant’s high-risk nature, it is kept behind safety glass and cared for only by a designated horticulturalist.
But the Gympie-Gympie isn’t the only dangerous flower in the mix, as visitors can find over 100 hazardous and intoxicating species of plants in the Poison Garden, one of the most fascinating aspects of a visit to the Alnwick Garden, located in Northumberland.
John Knox, the head tour guide at Alnwick, gave the outlet further insight into the herbage.
“The plant usually flowers and produces its fruits when it is less than three metres tall, and it could reach up to 10m in height,” Knox explained. “The stem, branches, petioles, leaves, and fruits are all covered in the stinging hairs and not to be touched.”
The expert also had a stern warning about the vilified vegetation: “The tiny brittle hairs, known as trichomes, are loaded with toxins over the entire plant and if touched, stay in the skin for up to a year. And release the toxin cocktail into the body during triggering events such as touching the affected area, contact with water, or temperature changes.”
In 2022, Daniel Emlyn-Jones, 49, grew the Gympie-Gympie at home, keeping the plant in a secure enclosure with a warning sign. Emlyn-Jones said he wanted to spark curiosity about unusual agriculture.
He told The Mirror: “I don’t want to come over as a loon. I’m doing it very safely. Some botanic gardens have these plants as interesting specimens.”
As it turns out, the Gympie-Gympie isn’t the only piece of greenery to be wary of.
In October, a poisonous plant called “baneberry” started prompting warnings from park rangers who are urging the public not to consume the toxic vegetation.
“Is that plant looking at me?” the National Park Service wrote on Facebook at the time alongside a photo of a white baneberry plant, whose fruits resemble eyeballs.
“Actaea pachypoda, the white baneberry or doll’s-eyes, is a species of flowering plant of the family Ranunculaceae,” the agency explained.
“The plant’s most striking feature is its fruit, a 1 cm diameter white berry, whose size, shape, and black stigma scar give the species the name, ‘doll’s eyes.’”
The organization quipped: “Did it just blink?”
“Well I have to say that if ever there was a plant I would not even touch, never mind eat, this would be it,” quipped one Facebook user.
“This plant just screams ‘Don’t Eat Me!’ Why any human would think such a grotesque thing was palatable is beyond me,” another exclaimed.
