Australia is certainly famous for having deadly spiders and snakes roaming the outback, crocodiles waiting in rivers and shark infested shores. However, many are not aware that Australia is also home to a whole range of deadly plants, one of which includes the gympie-gympie plant. The gympie-gympie plant or Dendrocnide moroides, is a member of the nettle (Urticaceae) family. If you’ve ever been stung by a stinging nettle you may be thinking, it doesn’t hurt too bad , what makes this one so different? Well another name for this plant is the suicide plant, which comes from the fact that the sting from this plant is so bad it is said to make you wish for your own death. The sting from the gympie-gympie plant is extremely painful and intense, lasting weeks, even months and some stings have ended in trips to the hospital.
The Gympie-gympie, like all plants in the stinging nettle family inflict their damage using fine hairs called trichomes. Trichomes are brittle hairs filled with toxins