这棵树有毒，下雨的时候你都站不起来

In 1999, radiologist Nicola Strickland went on a holiday to the Caribbean island of Tobago, a tropical paradise complete with idyllic, deserted beaches.

1999年，放射科医生尼古拉·斯特里克兰前往加勒比海的多巴哥岛度假，那里是一个热带天堂，有田园诗般的荒芜海滩。

On her first morning there, she went foraging for shells and corals in the white sand, but the holiday quickly took a turn for the worse.

在那里的第一天早晨，她去白沙滩上寻找贝壳和珊瑚，但假期很快就变得更糟了。

Scattered amongst the coconuts and mangoes on the beach, Strickland and her friend found some sweet-smelling green fruit that looked much like small crabapples.

斯特里克兰和她的朋友在海滩上的椰子和芒果中发现了一些闻起来很香的绿色水果，看起来很像野苹果。

Both foolishly decided to take a bite. Within moments the pleasantly sweet flavour was overwhelmed by a peppery, burning feeling and an excruciating tightness in the throat that gradually got so bad, the women could barely swallow.

两人都愚蠢地决定咬一口。不一会儿，这种甜美的味道就被一种辛辣、灼热的感觉和喉咙的剧痛压得喘不过气来，后来情况越来越糟，她们几乎无法吞咽。

The fruit in question belonged to the manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella), sometimes referred to as 'beach apple' or 'poison guava'. It's native to the tropical parts of southern North America, as well as Central America, the Caribbean, and parts of northern South America.

这种水果属于番石榴树，有时被称为“海滩苹果”或“有毒番石榴”。它原产于北美洲南部的热带地区，以及中美洲、加勒比和南美洲北部的部分地区。

The plant bears another name in Spanish, arbol de la muerte, which literally means "tree of death". According to the Guinness World Records, the manchineel tree is in fact the most dangerous tree in the world.

这种植物在西班牙语中有另一个名字，arbol de la muerte，字面意思是“死亡之树”。根据吉尼斯世界纪录，毒番石榴树实际上是世界上最危险的树。

As explained by the Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, all parts of manchineel are extremely poisonous, and "interaction with and ingestion of any part of this tree may be lethal".

根据佛罗里达食品和农业科学研究所的解释，毒番石榴的所有部分都是剧毒的，“与这种树的任何部分接触和摄入都可能是致命的”。

Manchineel belongs to the large and diverse Euphorbia genus, which also contains the decorative Christmas poinsettia. The tree produces a thick, milky sap, which oozes out of everything - the bark, the leaves and even the fruit - and can cause severe, burn-like blisters if it comes into contact with skin.

曼奇内尔属大戟属植物，种类繁多，其中也含有圣诞装饰一品红。这棵树会产生一种粘稠的乳状汁液，从树皮、树叶甚至水果中渗出，如果接触到皮肤会引起严重的灼伤样水泡。

Because of these horrifying properties, in some parts of the tree's natural range they are painted with a red cross, a red ring of paint, or even paired with explicit warning signs.

由于这些可怕的特性，在树的自然范围的某些部分，它们被涂上了红十字，一个红色的油漆圈，甚至与明确的警告标志同时出现。

You'd think humans could just remove the trees, but they actually play a valuable role in their local ecosystems - as a large shrub, the manchineel grows into dense thickets that provide excellent windbreaking, and a protection against coastal erosion on Central American beaches.

你可能会认为人类可以直接把这些树砍掉，但实际上它们在当地的生态系统中扮演着重要的角色——作为一种大型灌木，海鳗生长在浓密的灌木丛中，这为它们提供了良好的防风能力，并保护它们免受中美洲海滩的海岸侵蚀。