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riazrizvi a day ago

Florida's manchineel tree (with the tiny apples) is the OG wood you don't burn because it blinds you.

blacksmith_tb a day ago | parent | next [-]

Or oleander [1], which people occasionally poison themselves with by burning its wood.

1: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbio...

riazrizvi a day ago | parent [-]

Fascinating. So it seems to have been used for parasitic and fungal skin treatments, angina, and to induce miscarriage. With no doubt a very narrow band of error.

dmurray a day ago | parent | prev [-]

But you also don't touch it, eat it, or stand under it when it rains, so the opportunity to burn it by mistake is limited.

wpollock a day ago | parent [-]

You remind me of Episode 2 of the Apothecary Diaries: several Chinese troops were poisoned after eating local food. The food was fine, the wood used for fire and eating utensils was the source. I wonder if something like that ever actually happened?

onlypassingthru 14 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I would think any poisonous campfire would be quickly noticeable (who the hell likes to breathe campfire smoke?) and you would have to actually ingest the toxin like the guys who drank poisoned coffee.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-a-deadly-camping-t...

winocm a day ago | parent | prev [-]

That is such a good show.