Antiaris toxicaria (Upas or Ipoh) is a moraceous, evergreen tree native to SE Asia. Its sap is very poisonous, and is called "Upas" in Bahasa from the Javanese word for "poison". The sap is used as an arrow poison.
The name of the upas tree became legendary from a fictional account of the tree published in the London Magazine, December 1783.
In the story, the tree was said to destroy all animal life within a radius of 15 miles or more.
The poisonous sap from the tree was collected by condemned prisoners as an alternative to immediate execution; the criminal had to wait till the wind was blowing upwind toward the tree, get the poison and get back before the wind changed.
It was reported that scarcely one out of ten men returned from their task alive!
Mother Nature
The name of the upas tree became legendary from a fictional account of the tree published in the London Magazine, December 1783.
In the story, the tree was said to destroy all animal life within a radius of 15 miles or more.
The poisonous sap from the tree was collected by condemned prisoners as an alternative to immediate execution; the criminal had to wait till the wind was blowing upwind toward the tree, get the poison and get back before the wind changed.
It was reported that scarcely one out of ten men returned from their task alive!