Trees that could kill, really?
(extracts from various websites - i.e. Manchineel, https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/...us-plants1.htm , https://www.atlasobscura.com/article...anchineel-tree )
"Would you believe that there's a tree so poisonous that you don't actually have to touch it to be harmed? It's called the manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella), found throughout the Florida Everglades, Central America and the Caribbean. Inhaling sawdust or smoke from the 30-foot (9.1-meter) tall tree may result in a variety of uncomfortable side effects, including coughing, laryngitis and bronchitis.Do Not Eat, Touch, Or Even Inhale the Air Around the Manchineel Tree
"Some reports suggest that simply standing beneath the tree during a rainstorm and being splashed by runoff may result in rashes and itching. Your car isn't even safe from this toxic tree: Park under its low branches, and dripping sap can seriously damage the paint.
"Direct contact with the manchineel tree is far more hazardous. Its milky sap can squirt from the tree when twigs are snapped off, painfully irritating the skin and eyes. Ingestion of the deceptively sweet, crabapple-like fruits is known to blister the mouth and cause the throat to swell shut, then inflict severe gastrointestinal problems. These harmful effects result from the toxin hippomane A and B, which are present in every part of the tree.
"The manchineel tree sometimes grows near the beach, giving it another of its common names, "beach apple."
[..] it is rumored to have killed the famed explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon.
This is the manchineel, known sometimes as the beach apple, or more accurately in Spanish-speaking countries as la manzanilla de la muerte, which translates to “the little apple of death,” or as arbol de la muerte, “tree of death.”
"The specific toxins found in this sap and in the fruits remain partially unknown, but not unused. The aboriginal peoples of the Caribbean were familiar with the tree and used it for many purposes; the sap, in particular, was used to tip arrows. “It is believed that the Calusa used it in that manner to kill Juan Ponce de Leon on his second trip to Florida in 1521,” says Hammer.
"Manchineel is a member of a family of plants known as the spurges. (The name comes from “purge,” because, although all these plants have toxic sap, the toxicity varies, and some can be used as a laxative.) Spurges are found worldwide, in various forms, ranging from tiny herb-like plants to large bushes and trees. Manchineel is one of the largest, reaching up to 50 feet in height, but despite its dangerous reputation is not the most famous—that’d be the poinsettia, the manchineel’s more festive cousin."