Dendrocnide moroides

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(The fruit^^^^)

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(The fruit^^^^)

Dendrocnide moroides, also known as the stinging brush, mulberry-leaved stinger, gympie gympie, gympie, gympie stinger, stinger, the suicide plant, or moonlighter, is a plant common to rainforest areas in the north east of Australia.It is best known for stinging hairs that cover the whole plant and deliver a potent neurotoxin when touched. It is the most toxic of the Australian species of stinging trees. The fruit is edible if the stinging hairs that cover it are removed.

D. moroides usually grows as a single-stemmed plant reaching 1–3 metres in height. It has large, heart-shaped leaves about 12–22 cm (5–9 in) long and 11–18 cm (4–7 in) wide, with finely toothed margins.


Toxicity

Contact with the leaves or twigs causes the hollow, silica-tipped hairs to penetrate the skin. The hairs cause an extremely painful stinging sensation that can last anywhere from days to years, and the injured area becomes covered with small, red spots joining together to form a red, swollen welt. The sting is famously agonizing. Ernie Rider, who was slapped in the face and torso with the foliage in 1963, said:

For two or three days the pain was almost unbearable; I couldn't work or sleep, then it was pretty bad pain for another fortnight or so. The stinging persisted for two years and recurred every time I had a cold shower. ... There's nothing to rival it; it's ten times worse than anything else.

However, the sting does not stop several small marsupial species, including the red-legged pademelon, insects and birds from eating the leaves.

Moroidin, a bicyclic octapeptide containing an unusual C-N linkage between tryptophan and histidine, was first isolated from the leaves and stalks of Dendrocnide moroides, and subsequently shown to be the principal compound responsible for the long duration of the stings.

Chemical structure of moroidin, the bicyclic octapeptide responsible for the long-lasting pain caused by Dendrocnide moroides' sting

There has been anecdotal evidence of some plants having no sting, but still possessing the hairs, suggesting a chemical change to the toxin.

Treatment

The recommended treatment for skin exposed to the hairs is to apply diluted hydrochloric acid (1:10) and to remove the hairs with a hair removal strip. If this is unavailable, a strip of adhesive tape and/or tweezers may be used. Care should be taken to remove the hairs intact, without breaking them, as broken hair tips, if they remain buried, will only increase the level of pain.


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