Pay Attention to the Trees
The Manchineel Tree as a Coastal Warning for Florida
Florida has the most dangerous tree in the world.
The most dangerous tree in Florida and often cited as the most dangerous tree in the world, is the manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella). It is native to Florida, specifically South Florida and the Keys, as well as other parts of the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. Its sap, bark, leaves, and even the fruit are highly toxic and can cause severe skin irritation, blistering, and even temporary blindness upon contact or if burned. Hippomane can be translated as horse madness. The Spanish nickname is arbol de la muerte, the tree of death.
Hippomane mancinella grows up to 15 meters (49 feet) tall, with multiple wooden trunks. They grow in brackish waters at estuaries, beaches and mangrove forests. The tree has reddish-grayish bark, small greenish-yellow flowers, and shiny green leaves. The leaves are simple, alternate, very finely serrated or toothed, and 5–10 centimeters (2–4 inches) long. Spikes of small greenish flowers are followed by fruits, which are similar in appearance to an apple, are green or greenish-yellow when ripe. Here's why it's considered so dangerous:
Toxic Sap: The manchineel tree's milky sap contains compounds that cause severe skin irritation and blistering, inflammation, and even temporary blindness if it gets into the eyes.
Respiratory Issues: Smoke from burning manchineel wood can cause severe respiratory problems.
Lethal Fruit: While the fruit looks like a small apple, it is highly poisonous, and eating it can be fatal. The fruit is also known as the "beach apple," but it is extremely dangerous to consume. Spanish called it manzanilla de la muerte, 'little apple of death.' When ingested, the fruit is pleasantly sweet, with a subsequent peppery feeling progressing to a burning, tearing sensation and tightness of the throat, to the point of not being able to swallow solid food due to pain.
Toxins are water-soluble: Standing under a manchineel tree in the rain can cause skin irritation and eye irritation even temporary blindness.
Native Americans of Florida and the Caribbean knew of this tree. The often-repeated history is the Calusa used its sap on their arrows. When Ponce de Leon, the conquistador who named La Florida for Spain, came to Charlotte Harbor, where the Calusa defended their homeland. An arrow pierced his thigh, and he died in July 1521 from those wounds. Even earlier, as Diego Alvarez Chanca documented during the second expedition of Christopher Columbus came across the tree and named it "manzanilla de la muerte" or "the little apple of death,” described as such:
“We found there a tree whose leaf had the finest smell of cloves that I have ever met with ; it was in shape like a laurel leaf, but not so large: I think it was really a species of laurel. There were wild fruits of various kinds, some of which our men, not very prudently, tasted ; and upon only touching them with their tongues, their mouths and cheeks became swollen, and they suffered such a great heat and pain that they seemed by their actions as if they were crazy, and felt obliged to resort to cooling applications to ease the pain and the discomfort”
The manchineel tree is typically found along coastlines and in mangrove areas in south Florida, an area facing rising sea levels and increasing frequency of hurricanes. Manchineel trees, with their robust, deep root systems stabilize shorelines, preventing erosion. Climate scientists have made the case for mangroves being natural breaks for wind and storm surge during hurricanes. Through scientific arguments, policy recommendations, and even cartoons.
Manchineel trees play a similar role and, for the sake of adaptation to rising sea levels, it is important to be aware of this tree and avoid contact with any part of it. Leave the manchineel tree alone. We will all be better if we let the little apple of death continue to warn us to leave it, and the mangroves, alone to stabilize our coastal zones.
References:
M. Fernandez de Ybarra 1906 Translation of The Letter of Dr. Diego Alvarez Chanca, Dated 1494, Relating to the Second Voyage of Columbus to America (being the First Written Document on the Natural History, Ethnography, and Ethnology of America) https://repository.si.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/a0dcd5e1-2ad8-451a-b5ee-6f8fbf063009/content
Michael G. Andreu and Melissa H. Friedman 2022 Hippomane mancinella, Manchineel
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FR370
Stephen Goralski 2024 Consider: the Manchineel https://www.considernatureblog.com/post/consider-the-manchineel
Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew n.d. Hippomane mancinella