Painful plants

[Leggy]

Hi all,

I'm looking for information about paaaaainful plants in Australia, native or introduced, and I was interested in what you've come across out bushwalking that you would recommend avoiding. For the purposes of this thread we'll include fungi too. (yeah, yeah, I know...).

Gympie-gympies are the obvious one, and large amounts of wait-a-while is a scratchy hell in my experience. Also lantana sap: don't get it in your eyes unless you feel like having your walking partner blindfold you with their tshirt and lead you by the hand back to the car.

So what have you met that's green and mean?

[Tortoise]

Seem to remember crossing a creek down Bungonia way one winter - boots off, socks off, frozen feet. Onto the far bank, try to dry feet with sock tops - what's that they keep catching on? Oh, a bunch of blackberry thorns
Don't do the bare feet thing much these days...

[Strider]

Stinging nettles are never fun!

[Pteropus]

Just the usual stinging trees and wait-a-whiles that you mentioned. Stinging nettles are most common though and are annoying. Often makes me wish i wore my gaitors on some some overgrown nettle infested tracks. But they can be boiled and eaten like spinach...though I don’t recommend it...not because of the sting because that is boiled out, but because they are really terrible tasting! Most other plants are only poison if you eat them. I regularly see Alocasias, the elephant ears or cunjevois in the rainforests. Their sap can make your skin tingle and are apparently the antidote for the stinging tree sting. Macrozamias (cycads) and blackbeans can kill if eaten. Plus a whole bunch of weeds. Lantna coz its a pest and will scratch the living daylights out of me...

[puredingo]

Yep, the stinging nettles bigger, meaner brother, the mad-hatter. Only ever came across it here in the Illawarra and not sure of it's scientific name. Last time it got me I kneed it while walking through thick scrub OUCH!!! MY knee cap skin is pretty gnarly and thick being a tradie but Jeebus H Chrysler it stung like hell and for ages taboot.

[Pteropus]

... stinging nettles bigger, meaner brother, the mad-hatter. Only ever came across it here in the Illawarra and not sure of it's scientific name.

Dendrocnide excelsa

[jackhinde]

a new zealand mate didnt believe in the stinging tree, and he patted my pet potted specimen. with obvious results.

[ollster]

Scoparia... so much scoparia.

Last edited by ollster on Thu 28 Jun, 2012 10:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Tortoise]

Cutting grass

[stepbystep]

I'd say Bauera.... Seems benign early then it sucks you into all manner of arboreal corruption

[creeping_moses]

Scoparia... so much scoparia.

+1

[doogs]

I read recently that Giant Hogweed had been declared a pest in Tasmania. I have seen scars from the burn that the sap gives you, nasty nasty weed!!
EDIT: just looked it up it was found near Deroport but is thought to have been eradicated.

[sambar358]

My vote goes to the Stinging Tree.....I brushed under one of those in some rainforest in the New England area earlier in the year and was stung on the back of my neck and side of the face. I intitially thought that I'd got a heap of fire ants down my shirt....instant pain that hung-on for about 6 hours and it was still tingling some days later. Got back to camp and told the local mate about my experience and described the tree asking him what it was called ? "Oh that....yeah watch out for them in the rainforest.....that was a Stinging Tree and the scientific name is " NoBloodyTouchie" he reckoned with a grin. Very well named...give me a pair of bare legs and a big patch of nettles any day ! Cheers

sambar358

[peregrinator]

Hi all,

I'm looking for information about paaaaainful plants in Australia, native or introduced, and I was interested in what you've come across out bushwalking that you would recommend avoiding.

Prickly pear. I try to kill it when I come across it but it can fight back. With its "glochids", according to this website:

http://www.weeds.org.au/cgi-bin/weedident.cgi?tpl=plant.tpl&ibra=all&card=S12

So I don't recommend avoiding it, I recommend destroying it. But taking care to avoid the prickles.

It arrived in Australia with the first fleet according to:

http://www.northwestweeds.nsw.gov.au/prickly_pear_history.htm