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Cerbera odollam
Also called Pong Pong, Sea Mango
In Singapore: Pong Pong, Pong-pong, Sea Pong Pong, Yellow-eyed Cerbera, Buta Buta (Native to Singapore, Vulnerable)
Cerbera odollam is a coastal and mangrove-edge tree in the dogbane family, also called suicide tree or pong-pong, grown in tropical areas mainly as an ornamental. Every part is highly poisonous, so it is best kept away from people and animals.
Cerbera odollam is a tree species in the family Apocynaceae commonly known as the suicide tree or pong-pong. It bears a fruit known as othalanga whose seeds yield a potent poison called cerberin. It has historically been used in trials by ordeal, especially in Madagascar, where it has caused thousands of deaths annually, and continues to be used for suicide, particularly in Kerala, India. It can cause fatal heart arrhythmias with just one kernel and is responsible for numerous poisonings due to its easily masked taste and limited testing.
It is native to South and Southeast Asia, Pacific Islands, and Queensland, Australia, growing preferentially along sandy coasts, riverbanks, and by mangrove swamps. It is also grown in tropical areas such as Hawaii as an ornamental.
Cerberin, the poisonous compound in the kernels of Cerbera odollam, is a cardiac glycoside and, as such, blocks the heart's sodium and potassium ATPase. One kernel contains a fatal dose of the toxin.
[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 odollam 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.
