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Cerbera manghas
Also called Madagascar Ordeal Bean, Reva, Beach Milkwood, Dogbane, Dogbone, Grey Milkwood, Pink Eyed Cerbera
In Singapore: Pong Pong Tree, Sea Mango, Pokok Pong Pong, Sea Pong Pong, Pink-eyed Cerbera, Buta Buta, Nyan, Pink-eyed Pong Pong Tree, Tanghin Poison, 海杧果 (Native to Singapore, Critically Endangered)
Sea mango is a small evergreen coastal tree, up to about 12 m tall, found in mangrove and beach edges across the Indo-Pacific. It needs full sun, warm humid conditions and well-drained soil, and it is grown mainly as an ornamental or shade tree in tropical gardens.
Cerbera manghas (formerly Cerbera tanghin), commonly known as the sea mango, wawai, pink-eyed cerbera, tangena or bintaro is a small evergreen coastal tree growing up to 12 metres (39 ft) tall. It is native to coastal areas in Africa, Asia, Australasia, and the Pacific islands. It is classified as one of the three species in the genus Cerbera that constitute mangroves. Despite its name, it is not closely related to the mango (Mangifera indica).
The leaves and the fruits contain the extremely toxic cardiac glycoside cerberin, as well as tanghinin, deactyltanghin, and neriifolin. Only the mechanism of action for cerberin has been extensively studied, although tanghinin and the other molecules are likely to proceed through a similar mechanism. Cerberin acts by affecting sodium-potassium pumps in cardiac muscle cells via inhibition of Na+/K+-ATPase. In addition to its cardiac effects, symptoms of poisoning include numbness in the upper extremities followed by nausea, vomiting, chest tightness, and dyspnea. Cerberin is believed to be the most important contributor to the toxicity of the plant, although it is found in lower quantities than the other cardiac glycosides. Like the closely related Cerbera odollam, C. manghas seeds have been purposely ingested in suicide attempts.
Treatment of poisoning by Cerbera manghas is similar to treatment for digoxin poisoning. Administrations of calcium gluconate in moderation has been shown to be effective at reducing hyperkalemia.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cerbera manghas by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
