There are stories that don’t exist, as the good Maccio Capatonda said in the trailer of the masterpiece “The Man Who Dated People”, while others seem born for horror films, and are all too real. Like the protagonist of our story, a seemingly harmless plant, which actually hides a lethal nature.
Is called Gympie-Gympie (also called “suicide plant”, the scientific name is Dendrocnide moroides and belongs to the family of Urticaceae), grows in the Australian outback and is considered the most poisonous plant on the planet.
We are not talking about a specimen whose worst weapon is simple stinging contact, but about a green “monster” who has pushed people to extreme choices, including the decision to take their own lives.
And yes, there is also a surreal story linked to a man who used his leaves as toilet paper, without knowing what he was handling. The result? Unbearable pain and a tragic epilogue that makes you shudder just thinking about it.
A touch you will never forget
The Gympie-Gympie is certainly not a harmless garden plant. Its tiny, hair-like needles are loaded with a toxin so powerful that it causes excruciating pain, described as a combination of burning and electric shock. This is not a passing annoyance: the torment can last weeks, sometimes months, and in some cases those affected have preferred death to continued torment.
Among the first documented victims there was even a horse, way back in 1866, which died after coming into contact with the plant. And if you think that’s an exaggerated Australian legend, ask the World War II soldiers who found themselves fighting not only the enemy, but also this plant monstrosity. One of them, after weeks of incessant pain, lost his mind.
The most absurd (and terrible) story
A case that almost seems like a joke, but which has a tragic backstory, is that of the man who used Gympie-Gympie leaves as toilet paper. A gesture of pure distraction that turned into a condemnation. The pain caused by the stinging hairs was so devastating that it pushed him to take an extreme action: taking his own life.
This incident, although extreme, is not isolated. Gympie-Gympie is nicknamed the “stinging tree,” and for good reason: The needles, called trichomes, stick into the skin and continue to release toxins for months. Every time the affected area comes into contact with water or undergoes a change in temperature, the pain returns, like a nightmare impossible to chase away.
Behind safety glass
Despite its lethal reputation, the Gympie-Gympie plant has become something of a celebrity in botanical gardens. The Alnwick Garden complex in Northumberland, England, is home to a Poison Garden that attracts thousands of onlookers every year. Among more than 100 species of dangerous plants, the Gympie-Gympie is one of the stars. But for safety reasons, it is kept behind thick glass and cared for only by experienced horticulturists.
Even outside the gardens, however, there are those who decide to grow Gympie-Gympie out of pure curiosity. A British man, Daniel Emlyn-Jones, planted a specimen in his garden, well protected by a case and with a warning sign: “Do not touch!”. The man claims to want to stimulate interest in that type of agriculture that we could define as “unusual”, while admitting the potential danger of a practice conducted, according to him, in total safety.
Other plants to avoid
If the Gympie-Gympie seems terrifying enough to you, know that it’s not the only plant to watch out for. In the plant kingdom there are other poisonous “pearls”, such as the white baneberry (scientific name Actaea pachypoda, belonging to the family of Ranunculaceae) better known as “doll eyes”, native to North America.
The name derives from the fruits, white berries with a black dot that look like eyes. Although almost grotesque in appearance, this plant is equally dangerous: a small quantity of its berries can in fact be lethal to a human being.
The Gympie-Gympie lesson
What makes the Gympie-Gympie so disturbing, in addition to its natural danger, is its ability to go unnoticed. On the surface it is a normal green bush, nothing threatening, yet, contact with its needles can turn a walk in nature into a nightmare.
If you ever find yourself in Australia, remember: don’t touch anything suspicious, and above all, never trust a leaf you don’t know. Because, as this plant teaches us, sometimes even the most harmless green can hide the darkest side of nature.
