這棵樹有毒，下雨的時候你都站不起來

這棵樹有毒，下雨的時候你都站不起來

In 1999, radiologist Nicola Strickland went on a holiday to the Caribbean island of Tobago, a tropical paradise complete with idyllic, deserted beaches.

1999年，放射科醫(yī)生尼古拉·斯特里克蘭前往加勒比海的多巴哥島度假，那里是一個熱帶天堂，有田園詩般的荒蕪海灘。

On her first morning there, she went foraging for shells and corals in the white sand, but the holiday quickly took a turn for the worse.

在那里的第一天早晨，她去白沙灘上尋找貝殼和珊瑚，但假期很快就變得更糟了。

Scattered amongst the coconuts and mangoes on the beach, Strickland and her friend found some sweet-smelling green fruit that looked much like small crabapples.

斯特里克蘭和她的朋友在海灘上的椰子和芒果中發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些聞起來很香的綠色水果，看起來很像野蘋果。

Both foolishly decided to take a bite. Within moments the pleasantly sweet flavour was overwhelmed by a peppery, burning feeling and an excruciating tightness in the throat that gradually got so bad, the women could barely swallow.

兩人都愚蠢地決定咬一口。不一會兒，這種甜美的味道就被一種辛辣、灼熱的感覺和喉嚨的劇痛壓得喘不過氣來，后來情況越來越糟，她們幾乎無法吞咽。

The fruit in question belonged to the manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella), sometimes referred to as 'beach apple' or 'poison guava'. It's native to the tropical parts of southern North America, as well as Central America, the Caribbean, and parts of northern South America.

這種水果屬于番石榴樹，有時被稱為“海灘蘋果”或“有毒番石榴”。它原產(chǎn)于北美洲南部的熱帶地區(qū)，以及中美洲、加勒比和南美洲北部的部分地區(qū)。

The plant bears another name in Spanish, arbol de la muerte, which literally means "tree of death". According to the Guinness World Records, the manchineel tree is in fact the most dangerous tree in the world.

這種植物在西班牙語中有另一個名字，arbol de la muerte，字面意思是“死亡之樹”。根據(jù)吉尼斯世界紀錄，毒番石榴樹實際上是世界上最危險的樹。

As explained by the Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, all parts of manchineel are extremely poisonous, and "interaction with and ingestion of any part of this tree may be lethal".

根據(jù)佛羅里達食品和農(nóng)業(yè)科學研究所的解釋，毒番石榴的所有部分都是劇毒的，“與這種樹的任何部分接觸和攝入都可能是致命的”。

Manchineel belongs to the large and diverse Euphorbia genus, which also contains the decorative Christmas poinsettia. The tree produces a thick, milky sap, which oozes out of everything - the bark, the leaves and even the fruit - and can cause severe, burn-like blisters if it comes into contact with skin.

曼奇內(nèi)爾屬大戟屬植物，種類繁多，其中也含有圣誕裝飾一品紅。這棵樹會產(chǎn)生一種粘稠的乳狀汁液，從樹皮、樹葉甚至水果中滲出，如果接觸到皮膚會引起嚴重的灼傷樣水泡。

Because of these horrifying properties, in some parts of the tree's natural range they are painted with a red cross, a red ring of paint, or even paired with explicit warning signs.

由于這些可怕的特性，在樹的自然范圍的某些部分，它們被涂上了紅十字，一個紅色的油漆圈，甚至與明確的警告標志同時出現(xiàn)。

You'd think humans could just remove the trees, but they actually play a valuable role in their local ecosystems - as a large shrub, the manchineel grows into dense thickets that provide excellent windbreaking, and a protection against coastal erosion on Central American beaches.

你可能會認為人類可以直接把這些樹砍掉，但實際上它們在當?shù)氐纳鷳B(tài)系統(tǒng)中扮演著重要的角色——作為一種大型灌木，海鰻生長在濃密的灌木叢中，這為它們提供了良好的防風能力，并保護它們免受中美洲海灘的海岸侵蝕。