When you think about deadly things in nature, what comes to mind?
For most people, the answer relates to large predators — sharks and lions are both at home in the wild
But there’s another massive, deadly presence in the wild that doesn’t need to run or swim after you to have a lethal effect
The tree in question is known as the manchineel — and, as this article in Southern Living points out
That sense of foreboding extends to some of the nicknames the tree has picked up over the years, including
manzanilla de la muerte
What’s so poisonous about this tree? Everything. Writing at Vice in 2016, Sarah Emerson noted
“There’s not a single part of this fatal flora that won’t cause you pain, or at the very worst, an excruciating death.”
The manchineel also has a place in history that relates to the Spanish colonization of what is now Florida
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