Euphorbia cupularis

Euphorbia cupularis, referred to by the common name dead-man's tree (Zulu: umdlebe) is a succulent tree or shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae.[3] It is found in South Africa and Swaziland.[4]

Euphorbia cupularis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Euphorbia
Species:
E. cupularis
Binomial name
Euphorbia cupularis
Synonyms<[2]
  • Euphorbia arborescens E.Mey.
  • Euphorbia synadenia Baill.
  • Synadenium arborescens Boiss.
  • Synadenium cupulare (Boiss.) L.C.Wheeler ex A.C.White, R.A.Dyer & B.Sloane

Description
Color lithograph of E. cupularis

The dead-man's tree is very poisonous.[5] Like all Euphorbia the sap or "latex" is harmful, and that of E. cupularis gives off an irritating vapour. Contact with the eye can cause considerable destruction and with the mouth a rash, swelling, and peeling of the skin.[6] John Medley Wood, a Natal botanist, said the plant must be handled with caution. After "covering his face, keeping at arms length from the plant, and carefully washing hands and face...felt the effects on the eyelids, nostrils, and lips for several hours..."[7] However, those cultivating the plant at Kew Gardens frequently handle the plant without feeling any effects.[5]Seedlings start non-toxic and become toxic after some damage. Touching it without harming it disables its toxic properties.

Zulu legend and myth

The zulu name for the tree is umdlebe[8] and its toxic properties are described in their oral tradition. In 1828 Zulu Kingdom troops attacked the lands of Soshangane to their north. Messengers returning to King Shaka are said to have reported:

Between the Matolo and Nkomazi rivers we had many unpleasant mishaps:
Some of our men were poisoned by the terrible mdlebe plant;

— Mazisi Kunene in Emperor Shaka the Great[9]

Shaka's half-brother Dingana returned secretly from the campaign to assassinate him, leaving many of the other warriors to die

Ngqongqo-yem 'khonto ibang' izililo.
INkom' eyabuya yodwa kwaSoshangana,
Ezinye ziyofa umdlebe.

Cluster-of-spears causing grief.
Cow that came back alone from Soshangana's land,
While others would go on to [their] death from the synadenium tree.

—Izibongo Zikadingana [The Praises of Dingana]

The Zulu also refer to E. cupularis as umbhulelo: a harmful poison or medicine used in a trap,[10] of which umdlebe is one, or an ingredient of one.[11][12] Used by witches,[13] it is usually considered wholly vile, any association with umdlebe is proof the person in question is an umthakathi: [14] one who secretly uses evil medicine or charms.[15]

Missionary Henry Callaway, living near the Umkomazi River recorded stories of the magical and spiritual power of the umdlebe tree[16] in The Religious System of the Amazulu.[17] He guesses the tree is "probably a kind of aspen" and reminds him of the upas of Java, but that "much that is said about it is doubtless fabulous and wholly untrustworthy."[18]

An additional report appeared in an 1882 note in the journal Nature written by Reverend G. W. Parker, a missionary in Madagascar.[19] He describes two types: a small, shrub-like form, and a larger tree with two layers of bark—a dead outer layer, and a new living layer that grows beneath it; both are described as having red and black fruit and brittle, glossy, lanceolate leaves. Parker notes the umdhlebe is reported to grow in a variety of habitats, but to prefer rocky ground and that due to superstition, the area around the tree is never inhabited despite often being fertile'.[19]

Responding to Parker's letter, a writer identified only as 'H.M.C.' proposed that the word 'umdhlebe' is a derivative of the Zulu root hlaba, and speculated that the legend may have its origin in accounts of one or more members of the spurge family.[20]

References
  1. Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) & IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (2020). "Euphorbia cupularis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T146448778A146448780. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T146448778A146448780.en. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  2. "Euphorbia cupularis Boiss". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  3. "Euphorbia cupularis Boiss". World Flora Online. The World Flora Online Consortium. n.d. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  4. Carter & Leach 2001.
  5. Brown, Hutchinson & Prain 1925.
  6. Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk 1932.
  7. Wood & Evans 1899.
  8. Bryant 1905, p. 100: um-Dhlebe, Certain bush (Synadenium arborescens), the smell of which when in flower is said by the Natives to be fatal to one inhaling it.
  9. Kunene, 1979 & p. 417, lines 27-8.
  10. Bryant 1905, p. 55: um-Bulelo (Bhulelo), Certain class of poisons or injurious medicines placed in a kraal, along paths, etc., by an umtakati, for the purpose of causing fatal disease in those who should come in contact with them.
  11. Bryant 1905, p. 100 um-Dhlebe N.B: The bark of this tree, mixed with other ingredients, makes a powerful um-Bulelo, and the doctor when cutting it, must first smear his hands with the bile of a goat, then approaching from the windward side, let fly his axe at the trunk of the tree and so chip out small pieces.
  12. Bryant 1905, p. 55 um-Bulelo N.B: If the umxanyana womfaxi (the placenta of a woman) and the umhlapo wehashi (that of a horse) be mix together with idhlaligwavuma (human fat) and umdhlebe (a poisonous bush) and umopo (a certain sea-animal) and ifelakona (a certain mullusc) and one or two other ingredients, a powerful umbhulelo will be prepared!
  13. Berglund 1976, p. 279: Berglund describes the creation of an umkhovu, a kind of witch's familiar: simply strike the grave with a branch of umdlebe (Synadenium arborescens), and call the deceased by name. "Then the dead man rises out of the grave, coming out with the feet first." The deceased is crippled by driving a sharpened stick of umdlebe through the body, the stick entering the head through the fontanel and coming out of the anus.
  14. Berglund 1976, p. 346.
  15. Bryant 1905, p. 607: um-Takati (Thakathi), Person habitually given to secret poisoning, bewitching, etc.
  16. Tropp 2003.
  17. Callaway 1884.
  18. Callaway 1884, p. 231, note 85.
  19. Parker 1882.
  20. H.M.C. 1882.

Sources
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