Gympy Gympy - the most painful plant in the world (Backyard Scientist)
So how does it feel to fall on one of the most dangerous plants in the world?
Some things are better never to experience.
The gympi plant Gympi (after the town where it was discovered) or by its other name "the burning tree" (because that's what it will do to you - and more), is a type of large shrub from the nettle family that is found mainly in the rainforests of Indonesia and northeastern Australia and is one of the most burning and painful plants in the world
The plant, which reaches a height of 1-3 meters, is covered with thin, hollow hairs.
Upon contact, the hairs stick to the body and release a toxin that causes a severe burning sensation, swelling and redness, joint pain, vomiting and in severe cases even shock and death.
If you don't remove all the hairs - they may continue to release the toxin even many months after they are embedded in the body.
It is enough to inhale from the hairs of this plant to have strong coughing fits and nosebleeds.
Among the first to encounter the tree was road surveyor from North Queensland, I.C. McMillan.
In 1866 he reported that his horse was stung by the tree before it "went mad and died in two hours".
In short, it's not the kind of plant you want to encounter while mountain biking - but that's what happened to 42-year-old Naomi Lewis near her home in Cairns, Australia, whose legs were covered in the plant's hair.
"The pain was beyond unbearable. The body crossed the threshold of pain and then I started throwing up," Lewis explained to ABC News.
Her husband took her to the pharmacy to buy wax strips in an attempt to pull the tree hairs out.
While waiting for the ambulance, he and others heated the wax strips on his car and pulled out what they could.
In the hospital, where she stayed for a week, they couldn't do much for her beyond adding heating blankets to her legs and trying to control the pain.
"I went through 4 births - three cesarean sections and one natural birth," Lewis added.
"None of them even come close to this suffering."
She was released from the hospital on painkillers, but nine months later said she could still feel sudden sharp pains in her legs, as if someone had hit her with a rubber band.
It could be worse
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Other people who were stung by the plant described the experience as "the worst kind of pain you can imagine".
"I remember feeling like there were huge hands trying to squeeze my chest," said Ernie Reeder of his encounter with Gympie Gympie in 1963, "for two or three days the pain was unbearable. I couldn't work or sleep - and then I continued to suffer from quite intense pain For another two weeks or so. The pain continued for two years and returned every time I took a cold shower."
The pains are usually described as burning pains, which peak after 20-30 minutes from the moment of contact.
Even then, as in Lewis' case, the pain may not go away.
"Hairs can remain in the skin for up to six months," Gympie Gympie researcher Marina Hurley explained in 2018.
Amazingly, the plants were found with bite marks on them, indicating that there are animals in nature that are able to deal with the poisonous plant.
After investigating, Harley found several culprits, including beetles, other insects, and red-legged padamlons, a type of small marsupial.
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