When we moved to Brisbane twelve years ago, one of the first things we were told by residents was to keep an eye out for something known as the ‘Gympie Stinger’ if we were ever in a rainforest or heavily wooded area.  Thinking this was one of those jokes common to gently-mocking Australians (I’m sure tourists to Australia are familiar with drop-bears*), we were skeptical of the horrible claims made about this ‘Gympie Stinger’.  Some people said the plant could cause pain similar to an axe chopping into the effected body part.

Unfortunately we quickly realised this warning was not light-hearted.  ‘Gympie Stingers’, or Dendrocnide moroides, are a tropical plant native to north east Australia and Indonesia.  In some areas the tree is known as the ‘Gympie Gympie’, ‘Stinger tree’ or ‘Moonlighter’ (apparently it is luminescent in moonlight); and many parks carry notices warning of the effects these plants can have if touched.  The tree’s leaves are covered with fine silica hairs which are laced with a potent neurotoxin.  Upon brushing up against the leaves - even lightly - the hairs attach themselves to the skin and pump the dangerous chemical into the body.  The effects of the neurotoxin are almost immediate - a stabbing, stinging pain in the effected area radiates into other nearby body parts.  A red rash also springs up, quickly spreading into a swollen, inflamed mass of puffy skin.  Experts claim that the stabbing pain can last for weeks, sometimes months.  Sufferers claim it can last for years.  The neurotoxins are potent enough to kill horses, dogs, and other small animals, and it is believed that it has also lead to the death of at least one human.

There is no real cure for the sting.  Anecdotal evidence suggests that warm wax used for hair removal or a sticky plaster or band-aid can be applied to the affected area and ripped off to remove the plant fibres.  Claims that juice from the Cunjevoi plant leaves act as an antidote are unsubstantiated, in fact some sufferers say that this old wives’ tale is completely false.  One report mentions that the pain was so intense for one sufferer that the ultimate cure was death - the military officer in question shot himself to be rid of the pain, whilst another asked to be tied down to his bed for the duration of his suffering.  Even age has proven to be ineffective in destroying the poison - museum collections in excess of thirty years old have been known to sting those handling them.

The funniest, but undoubtedly most painful story I’ve ever heard concerning the Gympie Stinger is about some poor sufferer who unknowingly used the leaf as a piece of bush-toilet-paper.  This may be an Australian urban myth, but in this country stranger things have happened.  Next time you’re caught out in the bush without an enviro-dunny or port-a-loo in sight, spare a thought for the poor bloke who, in the same situation, decided to reach for one of the most potent stinging species in the world to use as his loo paper.

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* Drop-bears are a fictional creation which Australians use to scare tourists.  Depending on who you talk to, drop-bears are described as frightening creatures which wait until their prey are directly beneath their tree and then they ‘drop’.  What happens after the ‘drop’ is always left hanging by Australians, leaving some tourists in a state of fear, continuously looking over their shoulders expecting to be attacked or jumped on.