How toxic is the Antiaris toxicaria (upas tree)? Latest analysis
Antiaris toxicaria is a national third-class protected plant, also known as the poison arrow tree. It is a highly toxic and medicinal plant of the genus Antiaris in the Moraceae family, with milky white sap and gray bark, flowering in spring. It is highly toxic, so during cultivation one should try to avoid cutting the branches, and before pruning one should take corresponding protective measures even more. Now let us take a look together at just how toxic Antiaris toxicaria is!
How toxic is Antiaris toxicaria?
Antiaris toxicaria is the most poisonous tree in the world. Its milky white sap contains highly toxic substances. Once it comes into contact with a wound on a human or animal, it can cause the poisoned person's heart to become paralyzed, blood vessels to close, and blood to coagulate, leading to death by suffocation. Regarding this, there is a folk saying in Xishuangbanna called “seven up, eight down, nine fall to the ground”. The symptoms of poisoning in animals are similar to those in humans, with death occurring 20 minutes to 2 hours after poisoning. The median lethal dose of the ethanol extract of the sap injected into the lymph sac of frogs is 0.8 mg/kg. A moderate dose can cause nausea and vomiting in dogs, while a large dose accelerates their heart rate and produces ventricular fibrillation.
What is used to neutralize Antiaris toxicaria poisoning?
Antiaris toxicaria is extremely poisonous, and only red-backed bamboo-pole grass can neutralize this poison. Red-backed bamboo-pole grass is also known as jiadu tree, jiabu, scissors tree, etc. Its leaves are red and green, and the plant is slender. It grows in the tropical rainforest of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China, and is the only antidote to the world's most poisonous plant (Antiaris toxicaria). It mostly grows around the poison arrow tree, looks like small grass, and only a few elderly Yi people can identify it.
What are the common highly toxic plants?
1. Gelsemium elegans: Gelsemium elegans is the plant Gelsemium elegans of the Loganiaceae family, an annual vine. Its main toxic substance is gelsemine, and the most famous among them is Gelsemium elegans of the genus Gelsemium in the Loganiaceae family. The root of Gelsemium elegans contains gelsemine (koumine) A, B, C, D, E, etc. When it is removed from the soil it has a slight fragrance, but smelling it too much can make a person feel dizzy. The leaves contain gelsemine A, C, etc. Among them, the content of gelsemine B is the highest, while gelsemine D is the most toxic.
2. Tripterygium wilfordii: Tripterygium wilfordii is a wild plant of the Celastraceae family. The root bark, stems, leaves, flowers and young buds are all toxic. Its toxic components are mainly 5 alkaloids such as tripterygine, as well as dulcitol, tripterored, etc. The leaves and roots are used medicinally, and excessive intake can cause acute poisoning. The lethal dose for internal use is 7 young buds and 30-60 grams of root bark.
3. Oleander: Oleander is one of the most poisonous plants, containing a variety of toxins, some of which are even fatal. There have been reports of small amounts being fatal or nearly fatal. The entire plant, including its sap, is toxic, and other parts also have adverse effects. The toxicity still remains after drying, and the smoke produced by burning oleander is also highly toxic. Even a small amount or 10-20 leaves can cause adverse effects in adults, and a single leaf can kill an infant. For animals, the lethal dose can be as low as 0.5 mg per kilogram of body weight, and most animals have adverse or fatal reactions to oleander.
4. Antiaris toxicaria: Antiaris toxicaria is the most poisonous tree in the world and is often mixed with strychnine for use as an arrow poison. The sap enters the body through a wound and causes poisoning. The main symptoms are muscle relaxation and slowed heartbeat, and finally the heartbeat stops and death occurs. The symptoms of poisoning in animals are similar to those in humans, with death occurring 20 minutes to 2 hours after poisoning. Only red-backed bamboo-pole grass can neutralize this poison.
5. Datura: The whole Datura plant is toxic, with the fruit and especially the seeds being the most toxic, followed by the young leaves, and the toxicity of dried leaves is less than that of fresh leaves. In Datura poisoning, symptoms generally appear half an hour after ingestion, as quickly as 20 minutes, and no later than 3 hours. The symptoms mostly disappear or basically disappear within 24 hours. In severe cases, after 24 h the person enters a state of drowsiness, convulsions, and cyanosis, and finally dies in a coma.
6. Nux vomica: Nux vomica is the seed of Strychnos nux-vomica and Strychnos wallichiana of the Loganiaceae family. If ingested, the initial symptoms of poisoning include headache, dizziness, restlessness, increased breathing, a feeling of muscle cramps, difficulty swallowing, worsened breathing, constricted pupils, chest tightness, labored breathing, and tightness throughout the body, after which the extensor and flexor muscles contract extremely at the same time, with excessive sensitivity to hearing, vision, taste, and sensation, followed by typical strychnine convulsion symptoms, and finally death by suffocation due to rigidity of the respiratory muscles.
7. Foxglove: The whole foxglove plant is toxic. It is an important cardiotonic medicine that can stimulate the heart muscle, strengthen the contractility of the heart muscle, improve blood circulation, or directly inhibit the intracardiac conduction system. Because the distance between the therapeutic dose and the toxic dose of foxglove-type drugs is very small (it is generally considered that the therapeutic dose is about 60% of the toxic dose, and 10-20% of the lethal dose), poisoning is very easy. The whole plant is toxic and is used medicinally for its cardiotonic effect.
8. Aconite: Aconite is a plant of the genus Aconitum in the Ranunculaceae family. Poisoning is mostly related to overdose, raw use, improper combination, or use together with alcohol. The symptoms include numbness of the mouth, tongue, limbs and whole body, dizziness, tinnitus, unclear speech, palpitations and shortness of breath, pale complexion, cold limbs, abdominal pain and diarrhea, etc. It can be treated by taking Chinese herbal medicine honey dissolved in water to neutralize the poison or by drinking mung bean soup.