Rare rainforest tree bleeds toxic metal

The tree bleeds bright blue-green latex that contains up to 25 per cent nickel.

NEW CALEDONIA (Dunya News) – A rare rainforest tree Pycnandra acuminata in the island of South Pacific’s New Caledonia excretes a toxic metal when cut by the bark. The tree bleeds bright blue-green latex that contains up to 25 per cent nickel, a metal highly poisonous to most plants. Dr Antony van der Ent, a researcher at the University of Queensland told, “Pycnandra acuminata is a large (up to 20m tall) rare rainforest tree, restricted to remaining patches of rainforest in New Caledonia.” “As a test-subject it is challenging because it grows very slowly, and it takes decades to get it to produce flowers and seeds. It is threatened by deforestation as a result of mining activities and bush fires,” he added. The researcher went on to say, “The evolution of hyperaccumulation has evolved many times over in very different families, and likely has taken millions of years. These plants are found on naturally metal-enriched soils.”