20-02-2025
Campers warned about native Aussie plant with sting 'worse than a snake bite'
Campers have been warned to stay away from a seemingly harmless-looking plant in the bush after one Aussie explained the pain from its sting was "worse than a snake bite" when he brushed against it recently.
The plant in question is called a Gympie Gympie, and at first glance it looks like any other with its large green leaves. However, it's one of the world's most venomous plants and, in true Australian style, it's widespread throughout thousands of kilometres of the country.
"I can tell you from experience, you do not want to touch it," the avid 4WD driver said. "I only just slightly brushed against it. It was one of the most painful things that I've had in my life."
He claimed the painful feeling lingered in his hand "for months" after making contact with the plant and any time he would scratch his skin, it would "blow up again".
"I would choose getting bitten by an animal over getting stung by Gympie Gympie bush again," he said.
Simply touching the leaves, stems or fruit of a Gympie Gympie is enough for people to get stung. The 'sting' is actually caused by tiny hairs containing toxins, and when these break off into your skin, it causes "incredible pain".
Jarryd Kelly, the Curator Manager for the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, told Yahoo News he himself had experienced the pain from a Gympie Gympie sting and it was an "incredibly uncomfortable feeling to the point I wanted to cut my hand off".
"It was an immediate pain which escalated to a feeling of burning or as if I'd dunked my hand into acid," he said. "I started to sweat and felt hot, like I was burning up. It kept intensifying which made me think it would never stop."
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The pain escalates rapidly over a period of 20 minutes and "makes the toughest of people fearful as it seems as though it's never going to end". It can take hours, or even days, for the pain to subside.
"I recommend admiring them from a distance," he said, explaining the plants play an important ecological role but "aren't so compatible with humans".
The plant rightfully has a fearsome reputation due to the pain it inflicts, with Cairns mother-of-four Naomi Lewis saying the sting was worse than childbirth after she made contact with a Gympie Gympie last year, 7News reported. Sufferers have even reportedly contemplated taking their own lives.
If stung by a Gympie Gympie, seek medical assistance immediately. It is important not to rub the area as this can break the hairs in your skin, making them difficult to remove.
Gympie Gympie plants are found from the Northern Rivers region of NSW all the way up the east coast to the tip of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.
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