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Metopium toxiferum
Also called Poisonwood
Florida poisontree is a tropical tree from the cashew family, native to southern Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. It is a hazard to handle because all parts carry the irritant urushiol, so it is grown mainly for landscape or habitat use rather than as a casual garden plant.
Metopium toxiferum, the poisonwood, Florida poisontree, coral sumac, or hog gum, is a species of flowering tree in the cashew or sumac family, Anacardiaceae, that is native to the American Neotropics. It produces the irritant urushiol much like its close relatives poison sumac and poison oak. It is related to black poisonwood (Metopium brownei).
This tree grows abundantly in the Florida Keys and can also be found in various ecosystems in southern Florida. Its range extends from Florida and The Bahamas south through the Caribbean.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Metopium toxiferum 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.
