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Manchineel trees are often signposted as dangerous. William Ellis, ship's surgeon for James Cook on his final voyage, wrote: 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 ...
Phorbol is a natural product found in many plants, especially those of the Euphorbiaceae and Thymelaeaceae families. [10] [11] Phorbol is the active constituent of the highly toxic New World tropical manchineel or beach apple, Hippomane mancinella. [12]
Manchineel trees aren't all bad, though. They are found on coastal beaches where their roots stabilize the sand and help prevent beach erosion. Have you ever crossed paths with a Manchineel tree?
Many plants commonly used as food possess toxic parts, are toxic unless processed, or are toxic at certain stages of their lives. Some only pose a serious threat to certain animals (such as cats, dogs, or livestock) or certain types of people (such as infants, the elderly, or the immunocompromised).
The beach was so named by early Spanish settlers, who encountered what they thought were apple trees with small fruit. They were in fact the manchineel tree, bearing toxic fruit that closely resembles apples. [2] The name of the area was still maintained even after the arrival of the British in 1797.
Physostigmine (also known as eserine from éséré, the West African name for the Calabar bean) is a highly toxic parasympathomimetic alkaloid, specifically, a reversible cholinesterase inhibitor. It occurs naturally in the Calabar bean and the fruit of the Manchineel tree.
Cerbera odollam is known by a number of vernacular names, depending on the region. These include othalam (ഒതളം) in the Malayalam language used in Kerala, India; kattu arali (காட்டரளி) in the adjacent state of Tamil Nadu; dabur (ডাবুর) in Bengali; famentana, kisopo, samanta or tangena in Madagascar; and pong-pong, buta-buta, bintaro or nyan in Southeast Asia.
Also, keep in mind that the notoriety of the manchineel as fearsomely toxic has as much, or more, to do with its encyclopedic interest as does its purely biological reality. This is a general-interest encyclopedia, not an encyclopedia of biology. The manchineel is not just another plant, any more than the king cobra is just another vertebrate.