Cerberus tree
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Cerberus tree ( Cerbera odollam ) |
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The cerberus tree ( Cerbera odollam ), also called suicide tree , pong pong tree or milk tree , bell tree , sea mango , is a species of the dog poison family (Apocynaceae). It is native to the coasts of India , Madagascar and the western Pacific. Cerbera manghas is very similar , whereby the throat is reddish and longer, in contrast to yellowish. The fruits appear here mostly in pairs and they are purple in color.
features
Cerbera odollam grows as a tree or shrub and reaches heights of up to 15 meters. The terminal branches are arranged in whorls . The stalked, leathery, shiny, pointed to pointed, simple and whole-edged leaves are spirally arranged and lanceolate to obscure-eilanceolate. The sweet-scented, hermaphrodite, relatively large and salver-shaped flowers are white with a yellowish throat. The mango-shaped, up to 10 cm large, smooth and waxy fruits are reddish when ripe. The drupes appearing individually, with a two-part pericarp , contain a large, buoyant seed with a woody, fibrous and furrowed, thick endocarp that looks like a ball of string.
The plant has a poisonous milky sap .
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 40.
Occurrence
The Cerberus tree occurs in India on the coasts, also in Southeast Asia , Australia and some Pacific islands. In Singapore it is planted as a street tree and in parks.
use
Active ingredients
The poisonous seeds of Cerbera odollam contain multiple cardenolides , including Neriifolin , Cerberin , Cerberosid , Tanghinin and Thanghinosid . Mainly the effect of the plant ingredients is based on Cerberin.
use
The cerberus tree is used for murder and suicide far more often than any other plant, including other cardiac glycoside plants. In the southern Indian state of Kerala , more than 500 deaths were recorded between 1989 and 1999, which can clearly be attributed to the effects of the plant. The plant used for murder in many cases is often not recognized by pathologists, coroners and doctors, so it can be assumed that there is a large number of unreported cases. As a rule, the crushed seeds are added to sweet or spicy foods. 75% of the victims are women. Most of them are young wives who cannot meet the expectations of their in-laws. The related species, native to Madagascar , Cerbera manghas (= Cerbera venenifer ) was used as a divine judgment for a long time. In previous centuries it was responsible for the death of over 3000 people a year. In addition to being used as a poison, the wood of the tree is used in Sri Lanka for the production of masks, which are then painted in a striking way. Decoctions of parts of plants were also used as laxatives on the Fiji Islands.
The dried fruit of Cerbera odollam , also called "Mintola" or "Mintolla", is also used and traded as a decorative element for various purposes.
Symptoms
In addition to nausea and salivation, the symptoms include gagging, gastrointestinal complaints and severe diarrhea. In addition to general exhaustion, symptoms affecting the heart and breathing, which are characteristic of poisoning with cardiac glycosides, also occur. These include arrhythmias , hypertension , coma and, ultimately, cardiac arrest . Death occurs after about 6 hours.
pharmacology
The ingredients of the plant, which act as cardiac toxins, are classified as extremely toxic (Ia). Like other cardiac glycosides , they inhibit Na + / K + -ATPase . This membrane-based ion pump, which is necessary for building up ion gradients, is of essential importance for axonal stimulus conduction and for active secondary transport processes. The inhibition of the sodium-potassium-ATPase leads to the interruption of the neuromuscular stimulus conduction and thus to cardiac arrest. The mechanism of action of the Cerbera cardenolide corresponds to that of other cardiac glycosides.
First aid
Immediate countermeasures are required if plant material is ingested, especially seeds or isolated cardiac glycosides. On the one hand, these include the induction of vomiting and, on the other hand, detoxification, as is usual in the case of poisoning with cardiac glycosides.
literature
- Michael Wink, Ben-Erik van Wyk, Coralie Wink: Handbook of poisonous and psychoactive plants. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 3-8047-2425-6 .
Web links
- Cerbera odollam from Useful Tropical Plants, accessed April 19, 2018.
- Yellow-eyed pong pong tree on wildsingapore.com, accessed April 21, 2018.
Individual evidence
- ^ P. Barry Tomlinson: The Botany of Mangroves. Second Edition, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2016, ISBN 978-1-107-08067-6 , pp. 174-177.
- ↑ Pink-eyed pong pong tree on wildsingapore.com, accessed April 21, 2018.
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Cerbera - World Checklist of Selected Plant Families of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on November 17, 2018.
- ↑ 'Suicide tree' toxin is 'perfect' murder weapon James Randerson, New Scientist . 26 November 2004, Yvan Gaillard, Ananthasankaran Krishnamoorthy, Fabien Bevalot: Cerbera odollam: a 'suicide tree' and cause of death in the state of Kerala, India. In: Journal of Ethnopharmacology . Vol. 95, Issues 2–3, 2004, pp. 123–126, doi : 10.1016 / j.jep.2004.08.004 .
- ^ Terence Moore: The New Captured Harvest: Creative Crafts from Nature. Trafalgar Square Pub., 1995, ISBN 978-1-57076-022-8 , pp. 140 u. 156.