Poisonous Plants

When I first heard that Australia didn’t have poison ivy, I was thrilled. Sure, I could blunder into venomous spiders and snakes while weeding the flowerbeds, but at least no noxious blisters, right? My excitement was short-lived. Australia, it turns out, has dangerous plants too. And not just dangerous in terms of ingestion, although the country has lots of those. For example, eating the orange-colored fruit from the strychnine tree will result in convulsions, paralysis, and death. However, the three plants I’m describing here are so poisonous that even a passing contact is dangerous.

The first is the giant stinging tree, or gympie gympie. The name comes from a town in Queensland called Gympie, and this member of the nettle family is common in Queensland and northeastern Australia. It’s a large shrub with stinging hairs. The hairs cover the entire plant and deliver a powerful neurotoxin when touched. One of the world’s deadliest plants, it can kill dogs, horses, and humans. An Australian Geographic article describes the pain of this sting “like being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time.”  

Gympie gympie

The next poisonous plant, milky mangrove, is found in Queensland as well as Western Australia and New South Wales. It’s also known as “blind-your-eye mangrove,” a name that clearly explains the danger. If the wood catches fire, the fumes are poisonous too.

Milky mangrove

The third and last dangerous plant is the spurge tree. The sap, called “latex,” is highly poisonous. When it contacts the eyes, mouth, or nose, it causes serious inflammation and even blindness. Spurge trees are widespread across mainland Australia.

Spurge tree

But no poison ivy, right? Well, not quite. Unfortunately, there’s a relative of poison ivy here from the genus Toxicodendron that also causes allergic reactions. Although the Japanese wax tree is native to Asia, it was planted in Australia as an ornamental shrub. It is now classified as a noxious weed.

I'm never gardening again.