Gympie gympie. © Australiangeoghrapic
Don’t be fooled by the appearance of the gympie-gympie, which looks like a decorative plant.
27 November 2015 16:19
Brilio.net/en - In Maluku, there is a plant called gympie-gympie (Dendrocnide moroides) which once upon a time was blamed to have driven a man to shoot himself because he could not withstand the pain after accidentally using the leaves of gympie-gympie as toilet paper. Besides in Indonesia, this plant also thrives in the rain forest areas in Australia.
What makes the gympie-gympie dreadful?
Dont be fooled by the appearance of the gympie-gympie, which looks like a decorative plant. Once you touch it, you will suffer tremendous pain because of the hair-like stinging needles that cover almost the entire surface of the leaves.
The hair-like stinging needles in this plant contains one of neurotoxin. If it touches the skin, its stinging needle will stab into the skin and inject a poisonous active chemical called moroidin. This active chemical causes an excruciating pain that will not disappear for over a year if the sting needles are not removed from the skin.
To observe this plant, scientists have to wear thick gloves and masks. Why? In the daytime, the stinging needles of gympie-gympie can easily separate itself and fly in the air. One may experience a severe nosebleed if he or she accidentally inhales the needles.
According to Dr. Marina Hurley, a plant biologist from Australia, the stinging needles of gympie-gympie remains to be active for a long time, even though the leaves had already fallen into the ground. It occurs because moroidin (the toxin) is known to be difficult to neutralize. The specimens of gympie-gympie preserved for decades even still have the active moroidin.
What kinds of pain is caused by gympie-gympie?
Because of the intense pain inflicted by the gympie-gympie, many horses and dogs have died. There was a report of a horse that jumped off the cliff to escape their suffering.
The first thing youll feel is a really intense burning sensation and this grows over the next half hour, becoming more and more painful. Shortly after this, your joints may ache, and you might get swelling under your armpits, which can be almost as painful as the original sting. In severe cases, this can lead to shock, and even death. And if you dont remove all the hair (from your skin), they can keep releasing the torturous toxins for up to a year. said Dr. Mike Leahy, a virologist to odditycentral.
How to cure the pain caused by the sting of gympie-gympie?
From Wikipedia, one of the ways to remove the stinging needle of gympie-gympie is by pouring the part of the body stung with diluted hydrochloric acid (HCl). Afterwards the needles should be removed with a wax hair removal.
There are animals that consumes the gympie-gympie
If a horse or dog will die when it is stung by gympie-gympie, there are actually mammals which eat the gympie-gympie. Dr. Hurley admitted that there are several Australian marsupial species that can consume whole gympie-gympies leaves. These marsupials includes the red-legged pademelon and big ringtail possum.
(pademelon and big ringtail possum)
Source: Oddity Central and treehugger
