Grayling

Hi all
Following on from the various nasty animals theme.
How many people are aware of the various plants that can also cause a lot of damage?

The Gympie Gympie is a weed that is common in Queensland and probably elsewhere.It is a bit like a supercharged nettle:scared:

If you brush against it it can cause severe pain.The nasty bit is that the pain will return every time you come in contact with water for months afterwards.The Plant leaves little hairs in your skin which are active for ages.:scared:

What is particularly bad is that it is so common.We went for a walk in a park near Brisbane and these things were everywhere along the footpaths.They seem to like the sunlight in Cleared undergrowth!

Does anyone have experience of these?

The Lawyer Cane is another nasty which looks like a vine but is covered in spikes. The trick this plant has is that if you get tangled in it the spikes work further into your flesh.the more you struggle the deeper they go

It used to be known as 'wait a while' because the early settlers would often have to wait if their colleagues were entangled as the only way out is to gradually work the spikes out slowly.

Anyone have experience of these or other nasties?

G

Megalania

Grayling

That plant looks really scary
:scared:

G

karen and andy

We went on an eco-tour to the Daintree Forest. We were told about the gympie gympie and its effects, hurts like 500 bee stings, everytime you're in contact with water and air conditioning it will hurt like hell.

All of a sudden our guide starts screaming "don't!" . The guy behind us was just about to grab hold of the gympie gympie.
When asked why? he replied i just wanted to see if he was telling the truth!!!!!

As you can imagine he was ignored for the rest of the tour, and his poor girlfriend was so embarrased.

CHnJ

The Gumnut Babies ... we read one of the books to our wee guy as a bit of Australiana. Essential reading if you want to get your head around why Aussies grow up weird! lol

Grayling

The reason I mentioned these plants are because I had never seen any reference to them on this site.

As they are dangerous and are in the parks close to big cities like Brisbane I assume they may also be found in overgrown gardens etc.
Is this the case?

Everyone knows about the creatures but what about the plants?

G

Megalania

Problem for some forestry workers once in a wait-a-while.

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