The Tree of Death

For many years when the world was still being discovered by the European explorers many strange rumors began to circulate some of which were later proved  be true while others myths.

The Upas Tree is one. Appealing to religous beliefs that since there was a tree of Tree of Knowledge and Life from the Garden of Eden  it was logical that there would also be a counterpart and opposite to it.. Reports came in of a Tree of Death and several cultures confirmed encounters with it. Dr. Erasmus Darwin- Charles’s grandfather was one of the first to right about accounts of this strange tree in Micronesia.

The Tree of Death killed any animal or bird touching and exuded a deadly gas to anyone breathing nearby.

It was said to be on Java, Indonesia in a spot devoid of all other life within 12 miles (except with a few tree of death saplings nearby) with the bodies of animals and birds who had strayed too near the toxic environment it radiated.

This tree was also called the Arrow poison tree and locals reputedly harvested its sap for weapons, which the Europeans knew to be true.

According to the stories this harvesting was dangerous and done by convicted men approaching it down wind with only a fraction surviving the collection of its sap.

When the Dutch arrived they observed that Javanese did harvest a poisonous sap but that this required no special effort The “arrow-poison tree” Antiaris toxicaria is known to be a plant with many toxic parts including its sap but vapors and air around it were never toxic.

Many unknown plants are toxic and travelers should be careful never to eat anything they don t recognize.

Plants in the tropics are under intense “pressure” from competition, insects and heavy direct sunlight that many have developed different chemicals to survive. Intense phytochemicals are used to block out some of the direct intense sun while poisons eliminate predators. This is also why these plants are also so valuable for study as through trial and error Nature may have already developed potent medicines that could be developed into treatments.

Even some household plants are toxic and dangerous to small children.

For Manitoba parents, the Poison Control hotline can assist parents if a young child munches on the leaf of certain houseplants.

People have also wondered how the story of the Upas plant became so exaggerated and there is one other possibility that could explain a mass die off of animals in the vicinity of thevtrees- carbon dioxide.

There have been other instances where toxic bubbles of carbon dioxide are naturally released through volcanic or geothermal disturbances. Carbon dioxide is heavier than oxygen and can settle in depressions like a valley- suffocating local animal life.

The Dieng Volcano complex is also in Java and was known to emit poisonous gasses that have killed people

Lake Nyos is a crater lake iin Cameroon with underground volcanic activity. On August 21, 1986, possibly triggered by a landslide, the lake suddenly emitted a large cloud of CO2, which suffocated  1,700 people and 3,500 livestock!

Known volcanic areas are monitored for eruptions and emmisions although this is not exact and not always complete in poorer countries. Travelers should always stick to areas known to be safe and not wander in volcanoes or unknown caves because of these invisible toxic gasses.