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Toxic☠️ To avoid

🚫 Gympie-gympie (Giant stinging tree)

Dendrocnide moroides · Urticaceae

🦘 Australia
🧠 To remember it“Velvety heart, a year of smart” — the gympie-gympie's large heart-shaped leaf hides microscopic needles with a sting that can flare up months later.
Gympie-gympie (Giant stinging tree) — Dendrocnide moroides

🔍 Identify it without mistakes

Scraggy shrub under 3 m tall, with large heart-shaped leaves (12-22 cm) with toothed edges, attached to the petiole on their underside (peltate attachment). The entire plant — stem, branches, petioles, and even the fruit — is covered with microscopic stinging hairs shaped like hypodermic needles, which break off on contact and inject a cocktail of toxins. Colonises rainforest gaps, disturbed riverbanks, and man-made clearings.

  1. large heart-shaped leaves (12-22 cm) with toothed edges, peltate petiole attachment under the leaf
  2. entire plant covered with fine microscopic stinging hairs, including the fruit
  3. scraggy shrub under 3 m, colonising rainforest gaps and clearings
  4. present from Cape York to northern New South Wales, where it is rare and threatened
Sizeunder 3 m
Floweringfruits year-round in favourable tropical climates
Habitattropical rainforest gaps, riverbanks, and man-made clearings, from the Cape York Peninsula (Queensland) to northern New South Wales where the species is endangered

⚠️ Not to be confused with

False stinger / native mulberry (Pipturus argenteus)none for the false stinger, edible and stingless

To tell them apart: the false stinger belongs to the same Urticaceae family as the gympie-gympie but, unlike it, never stings — the total absence of visible stinging hairs and the silver underside of the foliage allow you to rule it out safely before touching any suspicious leaf in the Australian rainforest

☠️ What kills

nomGympietides (peptides similar to cone snail toxins) injected by hollow trichomes shaped like hypodermic needles
dose letale estimeeno established lethal dose for humans; only one confirmed human death across all Dendrocnide species combined (New Guinea, 1922)
delaiintense burning within 20-30 minutes, worsening thereafter
symptomesalmost unbearable burning pain that can last from several hours to several days, reactivated by contact with water, temperature changes, or simple friction on the affected area; hives and swollen lymph nodes in severe cases, as the hairs can remain active in the skin for up to a year
antidoteno antidote; hair removal wax or adhesive tape to strip away as many hairs as possible, painkillers, medical advice if pain persists or spreads
morts documenteesa single confirmed case, involving a related species of the Dendrocnide genus, in New Guinea in 1922

First steps : Do not rub the affected area. Remove visible hairs using hair removal wax or adhesive tape rather than bare hands. Avoid hot water and sudden temperature changes, which reactivate the pain. Consult a doctor in case of a severe reaction (widespread hives, swollen lymph nodes).

💊 Healing with it

no documented traditional medicinal use; the plant is actively avoided

Level of evidence : traditional use

⚠️ never touch a large heart-shaped leaf with bare hands in the Queensland rainforest without positive identification; airborne hairs can also cause respiratory complications during prolonged exposure

Sources (2)

No entry replaces a certain identification in the field, or medical advice. When in doubt: don't eat it. If ingestion is suspected: poison control or 112/911.