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Semecarpus australiensis
Also called Cedar Plum, Markingnut, Markingnut Tree, Tartree, Native Cashew
Semecarpus australiensis, commonly known as the tar tree, native cashew, marking nut, or cedar plum, is a species of tree in the cashew and mango family Anacardiaceae, native to parts of Melanesia and northern Australia. Contact with the plant can cause serious allergic reactions, a common characteristic of this family.
Like many other species in the family Anacardiaceae, this tree may cause severe allergic responses after contact with it. The agents responsible for the allergies are resinous phenolic compounds found in most parts of the plant, including the fruits and the exudate from the trunk and branches. Direct contact with the tree is not necessary to elicit the allergic response; in March 1954, an article appeared in the local newspaper in Cairns, Australia, describing how a number of children suffered rashes after swimming in a stream beneath a tar tree.
The natural range of Semecarpus australiensis is from the Moluccas in the west, into New Guinea, the Bismark Archipelago, Vanuatu and New Caledonia in the east; and south to the coastal parts of the Northern Territory and Queensland in Australia.
Semecarpus acuminatus · Markingnut tree · Semecarpus angulatus · Semecarpus angustifolius · Semecarpus auriculatus · Semecarpus calcicola · Semecarpus coriacea · Semecarpus cuneiformis · Semecarpus cupularis · Semecarpus euodiifolius · Semecarpus forstenii · Semecarpus gardneri
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Semecarpus australiensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
