The Burning Tree.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 196, 17 August 1895, Page 3 (Supplement)

The Burning Tree.

Theke has lately been added to the collection of plants ab the ibotanic garden ab Madras, India, a specimen of a strange tree. Ib is in size ecarcely more than a bush, bub other individuals of its species are known to have attained, in their habitat in the Himalayas, Burmah, and the Malacca Peninsula, the dimensions of a large tree, from fifty to seventy-five sfeet in height. The Madras specimen is surrounded by a strong railing, which bears the sign, • Dangerous—all persona are forbidden to touch the leaves or branches (Yf this tree.'

It is, therofore, a forbidden , tree in the midst of tho garden ; but no one is tempted to touch it, for it is known to be a * burning tree.' This name is a misnomer, for bhe tree stings rather than burns. Beneath the leaves there are stings comparable to those of nettles, which, when touched, pierce the ekin and secrete a fluid which certainly has a burning effect.

The sting leaves no outwai-d sign, bub the sensation of pain persists sometimes for months, and is especially keen on damp days, or when the part which has been wounded ia plunged into water. The natives in the parb of Burmah where this tree grows are in such terror of ib thab they fly in haste whon they perceive the peculiar odour which Jt exhales. If they happen to touch it, the) , fall on the ground and roll over and over on the earth with shrieks. Dogs touched by ib yelp and run, biting and tearing the parb of their bodies which had been touched.

A horse which had come in contact with a * burning tree' ran about like a mad thing, biting everything and everybody thab ib could reach. A mieaionary at Mandalay, who investigated a leaf of the plant with his forefinger, suffered agony for several weeks, and for ten months suffered occasional darting paine in hia finger.