Introduction

Even though there's no shortage of deadly flora and fauna in our own backyards, there's one tree on our planet that's just totally out of control.

This innocuous-looking fruit tree is found in the Caribbean, parts of Central and South America and Florida, and it is so toxic that it can seriously injure or even kill you - in more ways than one.

The manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella) is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as “the world’s most dangerous tree”, and in Spanish it's literally referred to as "the tree of death".