URTICA GIGAS.
Urtica gigas.
Natural order
, Urticaceæ.
The stinging tree of North Australia.
Authority.
Cassell’s Illustrated Travels
(New Remedies, vol. 4, 1875, p. 353), effects of touching the leaf.►
It causes most acute pain, which is
felt for months afterwards, a dull gnawing pain, accompanied by a
burning sensation, particularly in the shoulder and under the arm, where
small lumps often arise. Even when the sting has quite died away, the
unwary bushman is forcibly reminded of his indiscretion each time that
the affected part is brought into contact with water. I have never known
a case of its being fatal to human beings, but I have seen people
subjected by it to great suffering, notably a scientific gentleman, who
plucked off a branch and carried it some distance as a curiosity,
wondering the while what caused the pain and numbness in his arm.® 2000
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