Fish Killer Tree

Barringtonia asiatica

•This tree is a sailor, or it builds a boat for its children (seed) to set sail in. It can last for 15 years at sea and was the first tree to land on Krakatou after all life was exploded away.

•It uses chemicals to make the seed and its pod toxic so that nothing eats it and coastal peoples would use the seeds to catch fish. They would block off a part of a stream and place the ground up seeds in the water where the fish would die and float to the surface.

•The juice from the seeds also kill lice, and heated leaves kill worms.

•If you live near one of these trees go check them out at night for the flowers open up and you may see it pollinated by the giant Atlas moth.