The manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella) is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Its native range stretches from tropical southern North America to northern South America. The name "manchineel" (sometimes spelled "manchioneel" or "manchineal"), as well as the specific epithet mancinella, are from Spanish manzanilla ("little apple"), from the superficial resemblance of its fruit and leaves to those of an apple tree. It is also called beach apple. A present-day Spanish name is ', "little apple of death". This refers to the fact that manchineel is one of the most toxic trees in the world: the tree has milky-white sap which contains numerous toxins and can cause blistering. The sap is present in every part of the tree bark, leaves, and fruit.Dean, Signe (4 January 2016) "The horrifying experience a radiologist had after eating fruit from the 'tree of death'" Business Insider
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Compounds documented for Hippomane mancinella across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
💊 Medicinal use documented
Compound class profile5 classes
Spirostane steroids32
Unsaturated fatty acids5
Oligomeric stibenes3
Acyl phloroglucinols2
Tetracyclic diterpenoids $ Tigliane diterpenoids2
Documented compounds69 total
Compound
Class
Amount
Source
PHYSOSTIGMINE
200 ppm
DukesPhytochem
05DNA & barcoding9 specimens
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Hippomane mancinella has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens9
Marker genes5
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections4
Countries2
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
Hippomane mancinella voucher Li et al. NZ6919 (KUN) internal transcribed spacer 1, partial sequence; 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene, complete sequence; and internal transcribed spacer 2, partial sequence
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK4★rbcL5★rbcLa★ITS1trnH-psbA
plant barcodefungal barcodemarker
07Deep time~21.8 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin21.8 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type2 430 records
Wild obs. + sensor1 658
Museum / vouchered770
Cultivated / captive1
Other1
Origin
Native1
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO3 732 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy87% within 1 km
≤100 m 885≤1 km 284≤10 km 80>10 km 99
1 348 georeferenced · 310 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor1 658
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy61% within 1 km
≤100 m 80≤1 km 13≤10 km 46>10 km 13
152 georeferenced · 618 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence770
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Coordinate accuracy
no georeferenced coordinates · 1 records without
Open the mapnot free-living1
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions49 of 75 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Saint Louis, US
98
Chicago, US
97
Bronx, US
63
National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Ricalocation not on record
61
Durango, MX
53
Mexico City, MX
49
Puerto Ayora, EC
39
Museo Nacional de Costa Rica (MNCR)location not on record
18
Altos de Pipe, VE
14
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
14
Austin, US
13
San José, CR
11
Madison, US
10
Jardín Botánico de Cartagena "Guillermo Piñeres" (JBC)location not on record
8
Sociedad para el Estudio de los Recursos Bióticos de Oaxaca, A. C.location not on record
8
Riverside, US
8
MEXUlocation not on record
7
San Diego, US
6
Ann Arbor, US
6
CASlocation not on record
6
Berlin, DE
6
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record
5
Miami, US
5
Kew, GB
5
South Kensington, GB
5
Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL)location not on record
5
Tampa, US
5
Davis, US
4
Antiguo Cuscatlán, SV
4
MAlocation not on record
4
Fort Worth, US
4
Mérida, MX
3
QCNElocation not on record
3
St. Augustine, TT
3
Area de Conservacion Guanacastelocation not on record
3
Mazatlán, MX
3
Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record
3
Wuzhou, CN
3
Juriquilla, MX
3
León, NI
3
Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA)location not on record
2
Burlington, US
2
Fredericksburg, US
2
Xiamen, CN
2
Chapingo, MX
2
Aarhus, DK
2
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
2
Minia, EG
2
ASUlocation not on record
2
EL PASO, US
1
Santa Barbara, US
1
OTSlocation not on record
1
Ciudad de México, MX
1
MeiseBGlocation not on record
1
Instituto de invertigación de recursos biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record
1
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldilocation not on record
1
CJBGlocation not on record
1
Philadelphia, US
1
Cambridge, US
1
Calabar, NG
1
Loja, EC
1
Hudson, US
1
Richmond, US
1
Uppsala, SE
1
Zürich, CH
1
St. Paul, US
1
Tapachula, MX
1
Toronto, CA
1
Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicachlocation not on record
1
Universidad Tecnológica del Chocó (UTCH)location not on record
1
San Francisco, US
1
Paris, FR
1
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
1
Museum of Zoologylocation not on record
1
New Mexico State Universitylocation not on record
1
75 institutions · 712 of 770 vouchered records shown · 58 without an institution code
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
09Environmental DNA4 detections
Where the DNA of Hippomane mancinella was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found4
Studies independent surveys1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 4 detections have coordinates
Open the map0 countries0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation15 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility2 430 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI4 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics9 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
dukesphytochemcompounds
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
Paleobiology DatabasePBDB consortiumfossil record↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗