Poisonwood Tree Warning Sign

"Poisonwood Tree Warning Sign" by Catherine Sherman. A vandal has tampered with a sign warning against touching the black-sap Poisonwood tree on Great Guana Cay in the Abaco islands of the Bahamas. Earlier photographs show the word "Don't," which is now obscured by a sticker. The word "Poisonwood" is warning enough, though! The bark and leaves of the poisonwood tree (Metopium brownei) contain a high amount of an oily chemical called urushiol, which is the toxic substance in poison ivy and similar plants. It causes severe blistering. The wood of the poisonwood tree is very decorative for creating furniture and musical instruments, so craftsmen will take precautions to avoid the sap when they harvest and work with the wood. If people do touch the sap, a mixture of the leaves and bark of the gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba) tree is said to ameliorate the symptoms. Gumbo limbo trees often conveniently grow near the poisonwood tree. This photograph was taken in November 2017.