DiscoverScroll article

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. The name manchineel (sometimes spelled manchioneel or manchineal), as well as the specific epithet mancinella, are from Spanish manzanilla ('little apple'), from the superficial resemblance of its fruit and leaves to those of an apple tree. A present-day Spanish name is 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.

It has reddish-grayish bark, small greenish-yellow flowers, and shiny green leaves. 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. The fruit is poisonous, as is every other part of the tree.

Manchineel is native to the Caribbean, the U.S. state of Florida, the Bahamas, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. The manchineel tree can be found on coastal beaches and in brackish swamps, where it grows among mangroves.

The manchineel tree is listed as an endangered species in Florida.

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. 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. 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. 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.

To avoid dangerous contact with the poisonous parts, the tree may be burnt at the base to fell it.

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. The Mangeneel Apple has the smell and appearance of an English Apple, but small, grows on large trees, generally along the Seashore. 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.

In Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera L'Africaine (1865), the heroine Sélika dies by inhaling the perfume of the manchineel tree's blossoms. 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. 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." The tree is recorded as the world's most dangerous tree by Guinness World Records. 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 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

Quick Facts

• The name manchineel (sometimes spelled manchioneel or manchineal), as well as the specific epithet mancinella, are from Spanish manzanilla ('little apple'), from the superficial resemblance of its fruit and leaves to those of an apple tree.
• A present-day Spanish name is manzanilla de la muerte, 'little apple of death'.
• Its native range stretches from tropical southern North America to northern South America.
• 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.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Manchineel". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.