‘World’s most poisonous plant’ that delivers ‘unimaginable pain’ arrives in UK

With a sting so deathly, the Gympie-Gympie plant has tiny hair-like needles full of toxins which can grow up to 10 metres tall.

Horticulturists who like to live particularly dangerously can see it for themselves at The Poison Garden in Alnwick Castle, the setting for two Harry Potter films in Northumberland.

According to entomologist Marina Hurley, she claimed that being stung by this plant is the “worst kind of unimaginable pain – like being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time”.

When the ecologist had her first encounter with the Gympie-Gympie stinging tree, she was left in a sneezing fit and her eyes and nose were running for hours.

In some reported cases, this can continue for weeks or even months and has led to patients committing suicide as they can’t cope with it.

The plant is so dangerous that it is kept in a glass cage and has its own keeper. Alnwick Garden has over 100 toxic and narcotic plants on display.

The plant is being locked behind glass because if hairs from the plant are blown out of the cabinet they could “cause a serious allergy”.

The Gympie-Gympie will be displayed next to cannabis and deadly ricin plants.

Formally as Dendrocnide moroides, it belongs to the nettle family Urticaceae, and is found in rainforest areas of Malesia and Australia.

John Knox, lead tour guide at the Poison Garden, said: “The plant usually flowers and produces its fruits when it is less than three metres tall, and it could reach up to 10m in height.

“The stem, branches, petioles, leaves, and fruits are all covered in stinging hairs and not to be touched.

“The tiny brittle hairs, known as trichomes, are loaded with toxins over the entire plant and if touched, stay in the skin for up to a year and release the toxin cocktail into the body during triggering events.”

This includes instances such as touching the affected area, contact with water, or temperature changes.

In 2020 scientists in Australia found toxins produced by the plants bore a strong resemblance to those of spiders and scorpions.

With the Latin name dendrocnide moroides, it was discovered in 1866 when a road surveyor’s horse was stung, went mad and “died within two hours” in 1866.

For more information on The Poison Garden at Alnwick Castle, visit the Alnwick Garden website.

It can only be accessed on tours and visitors are strictly prohibited from touching any of the plants residing there.