Stinging tree or Gympie Gympie

[Cargo]

Been meaning to post these for while These trees can kill you ... If you have a pre-existing condition like a weak heart or high blood pressure they a re best avoided
This particular tree is just across the creek from home about 20mts away, fortunately I have never been stung but Baz has !!! Actually put him in hospital for a few hours.
I keep my eyes out at all times for these .... Anything remotely like it gets a wide berth

DSC_0324_01a.jpg

DSC_0338_01a.jpg

This is a clip from the show "Bite Me" where the guy touches it on purpose for the sake of science !!!! Not a very good copy ... But the best I could find

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33H93Rlzk2w

Cheers Cargo

[Judyd]

are the berries (that look so tempting) just as bad, Cargo?

[Mark L]

Can you make jam from those berries?
Of cause you can, as long as you can collect them without touching the rest of the plant.
Can you eat that jam?

[Steve Axford]

I know them we'll - worth avoiding. They're fine when they get big, but the small plants can be very painful. We call them Giant Stinging Trees

[Cargo]

are the berries (that look so tempting) just as bad, Cargo?

Apparently you can but they have little or no taste .... Soooooooo not worth the effort

- - - Updated - - -

Can you make jam from those berries?
Of cause you can, as long as you can collect them without touching the rest of the plant.
Can you eat that jam?

If you have your game on

- - - Updated - - -

I know them we'll - worth avoiding. They're fine when they get big, but the small plants can be very painful. We call them Giant Stinging Trees

The one that got Baz was big !!! He was working in the scrub down near Innisfail & reached up to grab a tree to pull himself up the hill, turned out the tree was a stinging tree.
The small ones that you don't see are usually the ones that get you hey !!!

[Mary Anne]

I have never seen or heard of this plant before Cargo and Thanks for letting us know.
Me being so inquisitive I would have touched it if I had seen it

[Cargo]

I have never seen or heard of this plant before Cargo and Thanks for letting us know.
Me being so inquisitive I would have touched it if I had seen it

Most of the National Parks have signage about them Mary Anne, but if you go off the main areas there is nothing to indicate that they are around

[Steve Axford]

My partner brushed against a young one and it hurt for days. The books say it can last for weeks. The only reason I say the big ones are ok, Cargo, is that the leaves are too high to worry about. When one falls over and it re-shoots from all along the trunk - then you have real problems.

ps. Actually I think you mean Dendrocnide moroides, which is the Stinging Bush or Gympie Stinger . It is the most toxic of the stinging trees in Australia and it has berries. Further south we have the Dendrocnide excelsa, which is the Giant Stinging Tree or Gimpi Gimpi with no berries. It is pleaty bad enough, but the Stinging Bush is even worse.

[Cargo]

I think you're right Steve, Although I have seen some big ones up never a tree size one
Baz grabbed the trunk of one to haul himself up a bank and had to go to hospital for several hours so they could monitor his vital signs.
It continued to give him grief for quite a few months !!!!!