Manchineel

Hippomane mancinella
Illustration from Phytographie Medicale by Joseph Roque, 1821
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Subclass:	Rosidae
(unranked):	Eurosids I
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily:	Euphorbioideae
Tribe:	Hippomaneae
Subtribe:	Hippomaninae
Genus:	Hippomane L.
Species:	H. mancinella
Binomial name
Hippomane mancinella L.
Synonyms
Mancanilla Mancinella and see text

The Manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella) is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), native to the Caribbean and Central America. The name "manchineel" (sometimes written "manchioneel") as well as the specific epithet mancinella is from Spanish manzanilla ("little apple"), from the superficial resemblance of its fruit and leaves those of an apple tree. A present-day Spanish name is in fact manzanilla de la muerte, "little apple of death". This refers to the fact that manzanilla is one of the most poisonous trees in the world.

Description

Manchineel is a tree reaching up to 15 metres high with a greyish bark, shiny green leaves and spikes of small greenish flowers. Its fruits, which are similar in appearance to an apple, are green or greenish-yellow when ripe.

The manchineel tree can be found near to (and on) coastal beaches. It provides excellent natural windbreaks and its roots stabilise the sand, thus helping to prevent beach erosion.

Taxonomy

Though numerous species have been named in the genus Hippomane, they are nowadays usually considered to be junior synonyms of a single polymorphic species. Synonyms include:

• Hippomane aucuparia
• Hippomane biglandulosa
• Hippomane cerifera
• Hippomane dioica
• Hippomane fruticosa
• Hippomane glandulosa
• Hippomane horrida
• Hippomane ilicifolia
• Hippomane mancanilla
• Hippomane spinosa
• Hippomane zeocca

Toxicity

The tree and its parts contain strong toxins. It will secrete a white milky substance during rainfall. Allegedly, standing beneath the tree during rain may cause blistering of the skin from mere contact with this liquid. Burning the tree may cause blindness if the smoke reaches the eyes. The fruit can also be fatal if eaten.

Many trees carry a warning sign, while others are marked with a red "X" on the trunk to indicate danger.

The Caribs used the sap of this tree to poison their blowgun darts (and maybe arrows) and were known to poison the water supply of their enemies with the leaves. As a form of torture they would tie victims to this tree and leave them exposed to the elements.

To Europeans, the manchineel quickly became notorious. The heroine of Giacomo Meyerbeer's 1865 opera L'Africaine commits suicide by lying under a manchineel tree and inhaling the plant's vapours. In the 1956 film Wind Across The Everglades a notorious poacher named Cottonmouth (played by Burl Ives) ties a victim to the trunk of a manchineel tree. The poor soul screams as the sap burns his skin, and the next morning he is shown dead with a painful grimace etched on his face. To the audience the image of the deadly manchineel must have been familiar to some degree.

There is also an old English slang term manchineel hands, found in the Caribbean region. Handling dry manchineel may not be harmful as the poison cannot very easily penetrate dry skin. If the hands are brought to contact with mucous membranes however, for example with the lips or the genitals, poisoning can occur. Thus "manchineel hands" came to describe hands that are discolored e.g. from dyestuffs or dirt, or otherwise "tainted". It now can mean anything ranging from discolored hands to sweating hands or any hand related abnormality.
"to". See poetry

Endangered in Florida

This tree is listed as an endangered species in Florida.[1]