Hello!

Hi,

I have never heard the term poison bush here in Florida. We do have
Poisonwood [Metopium toxiferum, hope I spelled it correctly]. It Grows
in the Southern Everglades and the Keys. Vicious stuff. Manchineel has pretty
well been eradicated except for maybe a couple of trees in the Everglades.
All of these grow in the Caribbean/Bahamas islands, as well as some other
nasties. The Manchineel is pretty potent, known a Guao in Cuba. It is so
vicious that if you stand in the shade you will be affected [I suppose it
depends on individuals sensitivity]. Liguus love to use Poisonwood as their
host tree, specially in the lower Keys.

Later,

Emilio Jorge Power

Ellen Bulger wrote:

> A few months back I started a thread in which I inquired about manchineel and
> poison bush, two plants that grow in the Caribbean that are toxic enough to
> make poison ivy look like an ideal choice for your perennial border by
> comparison.  Happily, none of you conch-Lers had had run ins with this
> ferocious fauna. But no one had much info to offer either.
>
> Well I just found great photos of both plants in an army survival manual, of
> all places. If anyone is interested in seeing what thses plants look like,
> let me know. You may never run into one, but imagine running into the bush
> along a tropical beach when your shell safari is interrupted by a call of
> nature and choosing the wrong leaf, one of these charmless plants for
> Charmin....... It could really ruin your trip.