| Antiaris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Antiaris toxicaria | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Moraceae |
| Tribe: | Castilleae |
| Genus: | Antiaris Lesch. (1810) |
| Species: | A. toxicaria |
| Binomial name | |
| Antiaris toxicaria (J.F.Gmel.) Lesch. (1810) | |
| Synonyms[2][3] | |
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Antiaris is a genus in the mulberry and fig familyMoraceae. It is amonotypic genus, i.e. it contains only one species, namelyAntiaris toxicaria. The genus was at one time considered to consist of several species, but is now regarded as just one variable species which can be further divided into five subspecies. One significant difference within the species is that the size of the fruit decreases as one travels from Africa to Polynesia.[4]Antiaris has a remarkably wide distribution in tropical regions, occurring in Australia, tropical Asia, tropical Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, Tonga, and various other tropical islands. Its seeds are spread by various birds and bats, and it is not clear how many of the populations are essentially invasive. The species is of interest as a source of wood, bark cloth, and pharmacological or toxic substances.
The generic epithetAntiaris is derived directly from theJavanese name for it:ancar[5] (obsolete Dutch-era spelling:antjar).[6]Some of the better known synonyms include:Antiaris africana,Antiaris macrophylla andAntiaris welwitschii.
In English it may be called bark cloth tree, antiaris, false iroko, false mvule orupas tree,[7] and in theJavanese language it is known as theupas (meaning 'poison' in Javanese) orancar. In theIndonesian language it is known asbemu. In the related official language of the Philippines, Filipino,upas, and in Malaysia'sMalaysian language asipoh orancar. In Cambodia, it's called choer banh or choer chhâk (ជ័រឆក់ ជ័របាញ់). In Thai it is the ยางน่อง (yangnong). InMandinka, it is thejafo and inWolof thekan orman. In Coastal Kenya, it is calledmnguonguo by theGiriama.
The Chinese ofHainan Island, refer to the tree as the "Poison Arrow Tree" (Chinese:箭毒木;pinyin:Jiàndú Mù — "Arrow Poison Wood,") because its latex was smeared on arrowheads in ancient times by theLi people for use in hunting and warfare.[8]
Currently one species ofAntiaris is formally accepted, namelyAntiaris toxicaria,[9][10][4] with about twenty synonyms recorded and rejected as invalid. The status of other species still is unresolved, namelyAntiaris turbinifera. However, given the wide range of the genus, it is quite likely that investigations under way will lead to the establishment of new species. Some varieties and subspecies are already established, pending further investigation. At present the accepted taxonomy is as follows:[3]
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Antiaris toxicaria ismonoecious. It is a large tree, growing to 25–40 m tall, with a trunk up to 40 cm diameter, often buttressed at the base, with pale grey bark. The trees have milky to watery latex.[11] Theleaves are elliptic to obovate, 7–19 cm long and 3–6 cm broad.[12]The African tree bears larger fruit than Asian and Polynesian populations. The IndonesianAntiaris toxicaria flowers in June. In Kenya peak seeding time is March. The edible fruit is a red or purpledrupe 2 cm in diameter, with a single seed.[11] The tree grows rapidly and attains maturity within 20 years. It is classified by Hawthorne W.D. as a non-pioneer light demanding tree.[13]
TheAntiaris tree is found in grassysavanna and coastal plateaus. In Africa, there are three varieties clearly distinguished by habitat and their juvenile forms. One is confined mainly to wooded grassland, the other two are found in wet forests;rainforest,riverine forest and semi-swamp forests.[citation needed]It generally does not grow above 1500 metres elevation.[14]
Antiaris toxicaria is a fairly small-scale source of timber and yields a lightweight hardwood with density of 250–540 kilogram per cubic metre (similar tobalsa). As the wood peels very easily and evenly, it is commonly used forveneer.
The bark has a high concentration oftannins that are used in traditional clothesdyeing and paints.
The seed from the fruit, which is a soft and edible[15] red or purple drupe 2 cm in diameter, is dispersed by birds, bats,possums, monkeys,deer,antelopes and humans.
In Africa andPolynesia thebast fibre is harvested and is used in preparing strong, coarse bark cloth for clothing. The clothes often are decorated with thedye produced from the barktannins.
Antiaris toxicaria is an excellent, fast-growing shade tree and often is grown around human dwellings for shade. The leaf litter is an excellent compost material and high in nutrients. It often is applied as mulch or green manure in local gardens, which must be grown beyond the shade of the extremely densecanopy of the tree.
Recently, the plant had allegedly been used by retired Tanzanian pastorAmbilikile Mwasapile to allegedly cure all manner of diseases, including HIV/AIDS, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, asthma, and others.[16] While found to be harmless to humans when boiled in accordance with Mwasapile's mode of creating a medicinal drink out of the bark, it allegedly was undergoing testing by the WHO and Tanzanian health authorities to verify whether it has any medicinal value.[17] However, conflicting reports suggest that the plant in question is not in factAntiaris, but ratherCarissa edulis.[18][needs update]
Thelatex ofAntiaris toxicaria contains intensely toxiccardenolides, in particular acardiac glycoside namedantiarin.[19] It is used as a toxin forarrows,darts, andblowdarts inIsland Southeast Asian cultures. In various ethnic groups of the Philippines,Borneo,Sulawesi and Malaysia the concentrated sap ofAntiaris toxicaria is known asupas,apo, oripoh, among other names. The concentrate is applied (by dipping) to darts used insumpit blowguns employed for hunting and warfare.[20][21] InJavanese tradition in Indonesia,Antiaris toxicaria (also known asupas) is mixed withStrychnos ignatii forarrow poison.[14]
In China, this plant is known as "arrow poison wood" and the poison is said to be so deadly that it has been described as "Seven Up Eight Down Nine Death" meaning that a victim can take no more than seven steps uphill, eight steps downhill or nine steps on level ground before dying. Some travellers' tales have it that the upas tree is the most poisonous in the world, so that no one can reach the trunk before falling down dead.[22]
Another account (professedly by one Foersch, who was a surgeon atSemarang in 1773) was published inThe London Magazine, December 1783, and popularized byErasmus Darwin inLoves of the Plants (Botanic Garden, pt. ii). The tree was said to destroy all animal life within a radius of 15 miles or more. The poison was fetched by condemned malefactors, of whom scarcely two out of twenty returned.[23]Geoffrey Grigson proposed that this exaggerated description was perpetrated byGeorge Steevens.[24] In fact, the deaths were due to an adjoiningextinct volcano near Batar, called Guava Upas. Due to confusion of names, the poisonous effects of the deadly valley have been ascribed to the Upas tree.[25]
Literary allusions to the tree's poisonous nature are frequent and as a rule are not to be taken seriously.[26][27] A poem that has been frequently commented on and set to music is "The Upas-Tree" byPushkin.[28]
One of the heroes ofThomas Mann's novelThe Magic Mountain written in 1924 mentioned this tree in the following context: "The knowledge of drugs possessed by the coloured races was far superior to our own. In certain islands east ofDutch New Guinea, youths and maidens prepared a love charm from the bark of a tree—it was probably poisonous, like thehippomanemanzanilla, or theantiaris toxicaria the deadly upas tree ofJava, which could poison the air round with its steam and fatally stupefy man and beast".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Upas".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 782.
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