This Little Apple May Destroy Your Internal Organs

The Manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella) is species of flower plant which belongs to the family of Euphorbiaceae. This plant is native to Florida in the United States, the Bahamas, the Caribbean and Central America. The name manchineel comes from the Spanish word manzanila, that means little apple. The fruit of this plant looks like an apple.

Manchineel is a tree which grows up to 15 meters and it has green shiny leaves and green flowers. The fruit is green and smaller than normal apples. Manchineel tree is the most poisonous tree in the world. In every part of the tree there are strong toxins, some of which are still unidentified.

The tree contains 12-deoxy-5-hydroxyphorbol-6gamma, 7alpha-oxyde, hippomanins , mancinellin. In the leaves there is the toxin named phloracetophenone-2,4-dimethylether and physostigmine is present in the fruit. The milky white sap contains a toxin called phorbol, which irritates the skin.

If you use this tree as shelter from the rain, the droplets of rain that will fall on you can cause blisters on your skin. In addition to that, the white sap may cause blindness after contact with the eyes.

The fruit is fatal if eaten. Strong toxins cause gastroenteritis, inner bleeding, shock and bacterial superinfection.

In other words, your inner organs would be destroyed if you take a bite of this fruit. Don’t try to burn this tree down because you can damage your eyes with the smoke, which also causes blindness. It’s best to stay away from this tree.