Antiaris toxicaria
PlantWikipedia
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Search complete. 10 mentions across 4 episodes found for "Antiaris toxicaria".
Oct 12, 2026
speaker_31NARRATOR
The Malay jungle natives have special markings on their blowpipe darts by means of which they differentiate their various poisons.
speaker_31NARRATOR
That of the Upas tree is specially marked to distinguish it from the others.
speaker_31NARRATOR
The sap of the Upas tree, Antiaris toxicaria, the active principle of which is called antiarin, is used as a poison for their darts by the natives throughout the eastern archipelago, including Java and Borneo.
speaker_31NARRATOR
It is extremely powerful and will sometimes cause death in 30 minutes after a wound is received.
speaker_31NARRATOR
It is often mixed with the venom of snakes, scorpions or centipedes, and occasionally with arsenic.
speaker_31NARRATOR
The Upas tree sap is collected in primitive vessels fashioned from palm leaves, which are then suspended a few feet above the fire.
speaker_31NARRATOR
The boiling process is somewhat protracted, and during the whole time the sap is continually stirred.
speaker_31NARRATOR
During this operation, the liquid is transformed into a thick, viscid mass, and in this condition it is withdrawn from the fire.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
On the upper shoulders of those cliffs were the caves with a fortune in edible bird's nests.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
And between the cliffs and the water stood the Upas tree.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
[ship horn blowing] A hundred legends were told about the Upas tree, how its shadow could kill a man, how the spirit of a white goddess was prisoned in the thick, dark foliage of its top, and how birds that lighted on its branches fell dead to the ground.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
Well, one thing at least was true enough.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
The Dayaks made a horrible poison from the juice of its bark, and they worshiped the tree.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
And on the opposite side of the junk, across 100 yards or so of water, was the beach of Misfortune's Isle, sloping back to break sharply on the foot of the limestone cliffs.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
On the upper shoulders of those cliffs were the caves with a fortune in edible bird's nests, and between the cliffs and the water stood the Upas tree.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
[tense music] 100 legends were told about the Upas tree.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
How its shadow could kill a man, and how the spirit of a white goddess was prisoned in the thick, dark foliage of its top, and how birds that lighted on its branches fell dead to the ground.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
Well, one thing at least was true enough.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
On the upper shoulders of those cliffs were the caves with a fortune in edible birds' nests.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
And between the cliffs and the water stood the Upas tree.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
[instrumental music] A hundred legends were told about the Upas tree, how its shadow could kill a man, and how the spirit of a white goddess was prisoned in the thick, dark foliage of its top, and how birds that lighted on its branches fell dead to the ground.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
Well, one thing at least was true enough.
Paul FreesVOICE_ACTOR
The Dayaks made a horrible poison from the juice of its bark, and they worshiped the tree.