This tree does not need a sign placed on or near it to tell people not to climb up it.  It’s actually a tree called Hura crepitans L.  I have not idea what that means in the scientific world, but I’m convinced if you were stuck fast to this tree you would be yelling something like “Hurry!  I’m a captive to this creepy tree”!!!  Thus “Hura” (Hurry)!  The “itans” (Titans) have me captured and they are “crepi” (creepy)!!!!

It really makes you wonder why God made such a tree like this.  What is its purpose?  Is there any good that can come from it?  (Bears Butt investigates!)

A search for some answers has revealed there isn’t very much good about this tree.  First off it grows where it’s rather warm, humid and where quite a bit of rain falls.  It’s native to North and South America, has large paper thin leaves that can grow to over 2 feet long and it produces fruit in the shape of large pods full of seeds.

None of that makes the tree seem like anything out of the ordinary, except for the spiky trunk.  But reading through the scientific evidence I found on the web, it is anything BUT ordinary.  Natives used to dip the points of their arrows and spears into sap that was extracted from the tree and this acted as a poison on the animals (and men) they poked with the arrows, quickly dispatching the life and making their tracking jobs less of a headache (my take on it).

The sap also causes your skin to rash up should you get it on you and if you rub your eyes with it, you are instantly blinded.  The blindness does go away after a long while, but I think I would not want to find out just how long it took.  Add to that if you ingest some of the sap it’s just a matter of time before it’s “lights out” for you.

So, here you have a nasty looking spiny tree with sap that causes death and blindness and you think that is about all there is to this tree.  Not so!  This baby has been known to grow over 200 feet tall!  200 feet!  I can not imagine standing at the base of one of these trees and looking up toward the top, I don’t think you could bend over backwards enough to see that high up!  I challenge you to that task!  200 feet is over 66 yards!  Farther than the longest pass attempt of this past Super Bowl!

Now let’s look at the fruit!  You would think that God would make a nasty tree like this and in the end the fruit would be very tasty, good for you and everything about the fruit would be positive.  BUT, God had other plans!  These fruit pods contain a soft tissue when they are growing and the seeds inside are soft as well.  My reading said that ingestion of one (1) small seed would cause stomach cramps, diarrhea, nauseousness, vomiting, convulsions…well you get the drift…not a pretty scene.  And should that not be enough for you, ingestion of two (2) seeds would lead to certain death!

The picture I have shown here is a ripe fruit pod.  They are green in color while they grow and when the fruit becomes ripe it turns this brown color.  As the color changes, so does the outer skin of the pod change.  It begins to dry out and cracks somewhat between the “petals” that you see.  Once it reaches its peak of ripeness and dryness the outer pod “explodes”….Yes…EXPLODES!  The pods exploding can be heard as if they were 22 shells going off and when this happens the seeds inside are scattered about the area.

Now when I say scattered about the area, I mean these seeds can be jettisoned over 100 yards!  And at a speed of over 150 mph!  Man, don’t be standing there looking at a seed pod when it goes off!  That would surely blind you!  I’m rather amazed the guy dared to hold the pod in that picture above!

Not everyone calls the tree   Hura crepitans L, for obvious reasons it’s commonly referred to as “the monkey no climb tree”, and “the monkey grenade tree”.

One thing is certain in my mind, I’m glad we don’t have them around these parts and I’m quite amazed there isn’t an all out world wide attempt to rid the face of the earth of every last one of them.  I’d highly doubt you would see someone sitting in one in an attempt to keep someone else from cutting it down.  Which brings up another thing or two about this bad boy tree.  If you are ever in the need to cut one down, be sure to wear protective coverings for your eyes, face, arms and everywhere that the shavings and sap could contact your body, or that you could breath in any of the same stuff.

On a positive note…they say the wood is pretty and you can make some really nice looking stuff from it.

Good dermatologists in the areas where these trees grow, highly recommend you tend to these trees daily!  It keeps them in business!

Bears Butt

February 6, 2014