Манцинелове дерево Hippomane mancinella L. (Euphorbiaceae Juss.) – найнебезпечніше дерево у світі

Hippomane mancinella L., the manchineel or manzanillo, has a long record in the literature of the West Indies as a toxic plant. Recently there has been a tendency to consider existing tales as exaggerations. A personal involvement with latex in the eyes countered a feeling of immunity developed over the years. Case histories and suggested treatments in botanical literature are few, but others are supplied from medical literature less familiar to botanists. A report of blistering from Hippomane spinosa L. is supplied. I HAVE COLLECTED Hippomane mancinela many times on various islands of the West Indies without experiencing its reported toxic properties. So I approached without concern a semi-leafless tree in full flower in March 1979, on the island of Montserrat, and proceeded to cut some flowering branches above my head. I soon learned my lesson. A few drops of the latex fell on my arm and were rubbed off, but apparently some had landed on my forehead above my eyebrows and went unnoticed. Perhaps 15 minutes later, while driving inland, perspiration and latex ran into my left eye, causing an immediate reaction of watering, intense pain, blurred vision, and swelling of the soft lid tissues. I could not see to drive so I stopped and flushed my face with cold water from a thermos-with no relief. Shortly afterwards the other eye became similarly affected, and I sought medical attention from a local doctor, who gave me an injection of an antihistamine and supplied gentamicin sulfate drops for both eyes. The physician was sufficiently concerned to make a house call subsequently to see if there was any deterioration and to administer sleeping pills. By morning the pain and swelling were somewhat reduced, although a granular feeling persisted in my eyes, and local tenderness of the area remained for another day. My eyes were bloodshot and the lids swollen for four or five days. The latex on my forearm had produced a swollen, red swath 12 cm long and 1.5 cm wide with small pustullations lasting over a week. The doctor indicated that I was his first case of an ocular toxic reaction to manchineel during his several years on that island. While the antihistamine, used to reduce the edema and to prevent further allergic reaction, seemed to be effective for the eye irritation, it had no effect on the arm area. The antibiotic gentamicin was prescribed to prevent secondary infection of the eyes, considered to be the greatest danger of any eye irritation. Without medical treatment I might have suffered the fate of blindness reported in the early literature. Subsequently, I sought reports on manchineel poisoning in the botanical literature and found nothing readily appropriate to the therapy but in fact a tendency to regard manchineel poisoning lightly and the early reports as exaggerations.