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Before telling you more about this tree, you should be clear that it has nothing to do with chamomile (or camomile), the common herb that many of us have consumed to relieve stomach pain or rest better.
The camomile or Hippomane mancinella it is a tree -also known as “Manzanillo of death” or simply “tree of death” – It grows in Mesoamerica (part of Mexico and Central America), the islands of the Caribbean Sea, in addition to the coasts of Florida in the United States up to Colombia.
But why does he have such a bad name? Well, because according to the Guinness Book of Records, it is the most dangerous tree in the world. Just rubbing it causes skin damage and if you take refuge under it you can suffer a skin rash extreme by receiving its diluted sap, which contains a powerful irritant. In fact, it is so toxic, that if they were burned, the smoke generated It could cause blindness and serious respiratory problems.
However, the worst is in its fruits. Although they look harmless and green apple-like, eating them can generate vomiting and diarrhea so severe that they will dehydrate you to the point of risking your life. In fact, those who have eaten them by mistake and managed to survive say that they have a pleasant taste, making it difficult to suspect that they are harmful to humans.
The Florida Institute of Food Sciences and Agriculture warns that “all parts of the camomile are extremely poisonous and the interaction or ingestion of any part of this tree can be lethal.”
According to the BBC, the British radiologist Nicola Strickland had a very bad experience with this tree in 1999 when she was on vacation with a friend on the Caribbean island of Tobago.
The woman, who shared her testimony in the British Medical Journal, said she saw green fruits when they fell from a large tree.
“I bit the fruit and it tasted pleasantly sweet. My friend did it too. Moments later we noticed a strange spicy taste in our mouth, which gradually progressed to a burning, tearing sensation and a tightness in the throat. ”he related.
“The symptoms worsened during the next two hours until we could hardly swallow solid food because the pain was unbearable and the sensation of a large lump that obstructed our throat”he added.
Fortunately, symptoms began to subside after drinking a lot of milk and pina coladas, but her lymph nodes were still very sensitive.
“Our experience caused frank terror and disbelief among the locals. Such is the reputation of the poison of the fruit ”, commented the radiologist on the occasion.
A little history
To this native tree some historical facts of the time of the Spanish conquest in America are attributed.
According to Infobae, the legends around the tree indicate that the indigenous people punished people by tying them to the trunk and infected the arrows with the sap of the manzanillo.
In fact, it is believed that some conquistadors became intoxicated when tasting these fruits and that even Juan Ponce de León, the first governor of Puerto Rico died after receiving an arrow poisoned with the sap of a manzanillo in 1521.
John Esquemeling, author of the book “The Buccaneers of America” (1678), related his experience with “the tree called manzanillo, or dwarf apple tree, when I was in Hispaniola (Haiti / Dominican Republic)”.
“One day, when I was extremely tormented by mosquitoes and midges, and still ignorant about the nature of this tree, I cut a branch to serve as a fan, but it swelled up and blistered my entire face, as if I would have been burned to such a degree that I was blind for three days, ”says the account.
According to the Florida Institute of Food Sciences and Agriculture, its name comes from the Greek hippo, which means horse, and well that refers to mania, or madness.
“The Greek philosopher Theophrastus (371a.C.-287a.C.) thus named a plant native to Greece after determining that horses went mad after eating it. And the father of modern taxonomy, the Swedish Carl Linnaeus, gave the same name to the harmful tree in America, “explains BBC.
Although this tree is common in Central America mainly, in most urban places these have been marked with red symbols or signs that warn of its danger.
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