67 
Swinging Properties 
I The Gympie has by far the most virulent sting of the Australian 
species of Laportea. Its stinging effects ore felt tor weeks after contact 
with its green parts. The sting of the other two species is usually not 
felt for much more than 24 hours after contact. 
After the first 2 or 3 days of intense irritation the recurrence of the 
sting of the Gympie mostly occurs during or after washing of the affected 
skin and it is often felt during cold weather. The recurrence of the sting- 
ing effects in this way occurs for at least 3 months. In some cases it is 
noticed that a severe sting on the arm by the Gympie is followed after a 
latent period by a pain under the affected arm and when a leg has been 
stung, by a pain in the groin near the affected leg. It is thought that 
lymphatic glands are the loci of the pain. 
No cases of death in human beings from contact with Australian 
stinging trees are on record. In one instance at Kin Kin intermittent 
periods of unconsciousness in a man have been reported and the case was 
taken to Gympie hospital. In this instance the sting was from Laportea 
moroides. It is also reported that the death of a horse resulted from stinging 
by this species. 
Winkler (6) apparently quoting a note on a collector's label stotes 
that the dried bark of a New Guinea species, Laportea cordata, is said to 
be fatal when contacted in eating. The species is described as a large 
tree of the primeval forest. The same author (6) quotes Weinland to the 
^effect that Laportea warburgii, also of New Guinea, is feared by the 
natives. 
When the stems of large numbers of the Gympie are severed as in 
brushing or clearing they frequently cause violent sneezing. 
It is fairly well known that annual nettles such os Urtica urens, which 
Js so well known in Europe, do not sting when grasped firmly. In my 
•early days at Kin Kin I firmly grasped a leaf of the Gympie and was 
severely stung. The hairs of the giant stinging tree and the shining-leaved 
:stinging tree in the some way do not yield to pressure painlessly. 
Structure of Stinging Hairs 
The largest stinging hairs in all three species are inserted at the 
base in the apex of a structure called a pedestal. This pedestal is part 
•of the leaf or other green organ and is cellular. It varies from conical 
to broadly conical. In the giant stinging tree and the Gympie it is often 
about .5 mm. broad at the base and in the shining-leaved stinging tree it 
is often much larger and more prominent and may exceed 1.5 mm. in 
breadth at the base. 
The larger hairs in all three species can be seen with the unaided eye 
and are about 1/16 inch long. Globular hollow heads cap the largest 
hairs of the three species, but the medium-sized and small hairs are 
terminated by shorp points (see figs. 5 - 7). The largest hairs from a 
specimen of the Gympie from Mowbray River, north of Cairns, collected 
by Mr. L. J. Brass, were found to be terminated by a blunt point (see 
^ig. 6c). The following are the principal external dimensions above the 
pedestals of the largest hairs of the three species: 
Species 
Laportea gigas 
Laportea moroides 
Laportea photiniphylla 
Length 
1 .45 mm. 
1 .45 mm. 
1 . 3 mm. 
Breadth of base 
0.21 7 mm. 
0. 1 45 mm. 
0.27 mm. 
Diam. of head 
0.01 6 mm. 
0.01 1 mm. 
0.0 1 4 mm. 
The table above shows that the terminal heods are smallest in the 
Gympie and thot the basal measurement is also smallest in this species. 
Because of their slenderness the hairs of the Gympie ore more effective 
organs of penetration than the hairs of the other two species. 
