Oddity Ark #14 (194) Dynamite Tree

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Edited By Sundown89

Welcome to the first week of ‘Shocktober’ the month where we look at the darkest sides of nature. This week we’re looking at a lifeform that is just itching to kill everything around it, with every weapon at its disposal, be it poison, aggressive action, thorns and even explosives. But before we get round to that we must clear up the Case of the Circle of Death that was set up in last week's issue.

Circles of Death, at least in regard to army ants, the answer is E. Circles of Death are created when either a small group or even a single ant expires when laying a pheromone trail. Attracted by the pheromones laid down, other army ants get to the terminus point and are stuck in a holding pattern, circling around the dead ants in wider and wider arcs. Usually, one or two ants escape the circle and are able to lead the rest of the swarm out, but there are instances where large groups of ants continue on an inward spiral until they expire.

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Oddity Ark #14 (#194)

[1]
[1]

Kingdom: Plantae

[Clade]: Tracheophytes

[Clade]: Angiosperms

Order: Malpighales

Family: Euphorbiaceae

Genus: Hura

Species:crepitans

Related Species: The dynamite tree is a member of the Euphorbiaceae, a group that includes spurges, rubber trees (Hevea brasilliensis) and castor beans (Ricinus communis)(1).

Range: Dynamite trees are found in tropical areas of both North and South America. The species was also introduced into Tanzania as a shade tree.

IUCN Status: The dynamite tree is not currently listed on the ICUN Red List, but if it was, it would be classified as ‘Least Concern’.

Everything Must Die!!!

The dynamite tree is a large tree that grows up to 60m (200ft) tall and has large ovate leaves that can be up to 60cm (2ft) wide. The bark of the tree is covered in rows of hard outwards facing recurved thorns that, in mature trees grow so close together that they form broad palisades of skin cutting barbs. Because of these thorns, the dynamite tree has the alternative colloquial name of ‘monkey-no-climb’ due to the inability for primates to scale the tree’s trunks. The leaves of the dynamite tree contain an array of purgative chemicals and as such are inedible to mammalian browsers and may have some use as an insecticide.

[2]
[2]

The leaves are just one of the toxic parts of the dynamite tree, with more concentrated toxins found in the seeds and bark. When cut open, the dynamite tree bleeds a blood red latex like sap which causes rashes on contact with skin, and in the sap finds its way into the eyes can cause temporary blindness. The Carib used to bleed the dynamite tree to coat the tips of their arrows and darts to use as a potent fish poison for use in hunting (2).

[3]
[3]

The flowers of the dynamite tree form long red flower spikes, with the tree producing both female and male flowers. Once fertilised, the dynamite tree forms pumpkin like seeds formed of thirteen to sixteen around a single axis (3). As the seeds ripen, the potential energy stored increases until the fruit detonates with explosive force that produces a sound akin to a pistol shot. The force is so powerful that is launches the segments at a speed of 70m/s (250kmph/160mph) up to 100m away from the parent plant. The velocity of these seed fragments is enough to crack windows, kill small animals and cause bodily harm to humans and livestock caught within the blast radius.

Terrors of Toxicology #9: The Manchineel AKA the Death Apple

[4]
[4]

A broken heart leads to our heroine, Sélika, queen of the island nation she rules, to take the bottle of perfume and spritzes herself with the chemical, ending her life in what is likely a painful death. While the fictional heroine of the 1865 opera L’Africaine, Sélika’s death using toxins for the manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella) is all too factual. Found in the Americas including the south-eastern United Stated of America, the manchineel tree is commonly found growing on coastlines, leading to its alternative colloquial name of ‘beach apple’. Often, these trees will be marked with signs indicating its danger, or at the very least a red ‘X’ to let people know of the danger the tree poses.

[5]
[5]

While no modern fatalities are associated with the tree, consumption of the apple like fruit cause severe gastroenteritis, as well as internal bleeding and shock, in addition to the constriction of the airways and oesophagus to the point where respiration causes extreme pain. As a member of the spurge family, the manchineel tree produces a thick white sap so caustic that is causes damage to the paint of cars parked underneath the tree (4). The tree is so toxic, that raindrops running down the leaves of the tree become caustic and can cause skin rashes and even blindness to anyone sheltering beneath it.

The wood of the manchineel tree creates toxic smoke something that the crew of the Resolution and Discovery found out, with some of the sailors who encountered the fumes being blind for up to two weeks. The Carib utilised manchineel sap as an arrow toxin, and as a chemical weapon to poison their enemies water sources. One well known casualty of manchineel toxins was conquistador and first governor of Puerto Rico Juan Ponce de Leon after being struck by a poisoned arrow in a battle with the Calusa people in Florida (2).

References

1. www.arkive.com

2. Jones, David E (2007). Poison Arrows: North American Indian Hunting and Warfare. University of Texas Press.

3. Allard, H. A. (1950). "The Sandbox Tree and Its Armament". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 77 (6): 509–515.

4. McLendon, Russell. "Why manchineel might be Earth's most dangerous tree". Mother Nature Network. Narrative Content Group.

5. 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. G. Robinson, J. Sewell and J. Debrett. 1783. p. 60

Picture Credits

1. 65256daf787b00536b725468b2659ee7.jpg (746×982) (pinimg.com)

2. OIP.jVZ5i4XRtXlQHFkpb_4xawHaE7 (474×315) (bing.com)

3. hura_crepitans_seed_pod.jpg (346×311) (netdna-ssl.com)

4. manchineel-tree-Poisonous-1080x675.jpeg (1080×675) (tampa-tree.com)

5. 1*w2EGcmth6a1glPPJSA4tGA.jpeg (1200×2134) (medium.com)

If you want to see more amazing animals and plants, please check out the Oddity Arkive for past issues. And if you want even more animals, please check out dearly departed Impurest Cheese’s Guide to Animals which can be found here, or on the blog of long-suffering ecology intern @ficopedia

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@sundown89: This sent me on a small YouTube binge looking for videos of the exploding fruit. Surprisingly, not that many. I was hoping someone had set up a camera in the wild to catch them exploding off of the tree- I wanted to hear the sound. Only found this video:

Loading Video...
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@ficopedia: Yeah, I looked for something to show the full explosion. I suspect that it is too dangerous to get close to record it.

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@ficopedia: Yeah, I looked for something to show the full explosion. I suspect that it is too dangerous to get close to record it.

Yeah, I assumed that it would be. I just thought someone might have set one up and left it there to record on its own. I suppose it'd be hard to set it up at the right time between battery life of the camera and not getting exploded upon. :}

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@ficopedia: Additionaly you’d also have to set the camera at least 30ft up to catch the detonation which considering you can’t climb the tree without ripping yourself to pieces is also not possible.

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@ficopedia: Additionaly you’d also have to set the camera at least 30ft up to catch the detonation which considering you can’t climb the tree without ripping yourself to pieces is also not possible.

I figured it would have to be set on a tripod or pole, not on the tree. That's a mighty high pole though. :)

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@ficopedia: True but at that point there has to be a cost benefit analysis, it’s a lot of money, effort and time to catch one detonation.

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@ficopedia: True but at that point there has to be a cost benefit analysis, it’s a lot of money, effort and time to catch one detonation.

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@ficopedia: True but at that point there has to be a cost benefit analysis, it’s a lot of money, effort and time to catch one detonation.

lol, I get it. At the point you said 30ft, I saw that it was an improbable task.