In 1999, radiologist Nicola Strickland went on a holiday to the Caribbean island of Tobago, a tropical paradise complete with idyllic, deserted beaches.
1999年，放射學家尼古拉·斯特里克蘭(Nicola Strickland)去加勒比海的多巴哥島度假，這是一個充滿田園詩般的荒涼海灘的熱帶天堂。
On her first morning there, she went foraging for shells and corals in the white sand, but the holiday quickly took a turn for the worse.
在她到那裡的第一個早晨，她去白沙中尋找貝殼和珊瑚，但假期很快就變得更糟了。
Scattered amongst the coconuts and mangoes on the beach, Strickland and her friend found some sweet-smelling green fruit that looked much like small crabapples.
散落在海灘上的椰子和芒果中間，斯特里克蘭和她的朋友找到了一些聞起來很香的綠色水果，看起來很像小海棠。
Both foolishly decided to take a bite.
兩個人都愚蠢地決定咬一口。
Within moments the pleasantly sweet flavour was overwhelmed by a peppery, burning feeling and an excruciating tightness in the throat that gradually got so bad, the women could barely swallow.
片刻之後，甜美的味道被一種辣味，灼熱的感覺和喉嚨裡令人難以忍受的緊繃所淹沒，漸漸變得如此糟糕，女人們幾乎無法下嚥了。
The fruit in question belonged to the manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella), sometimes referred to as 'beach apple' or 'poison guava'. It's native to the tropical parts of southern North America, as well as Central America, the Caribbean, and parts of northern South America.
所討論的水果屬於桃金娘樹(Hippomane Mancinella)，有時被稱為“海灘蘋果”或“毒番石榴”。它原產於北美南部的熱帶地區，以及中美洲、加勒比海和南美洲北部的部分地區。
The plant bears another name in Spanish, arbol de la muerte, which literally means "tree of death".
這種植物在西班牙語中有另一個名字，arbol de la muerte，字面意思是“死亡之樹”。
According to the Guinness World Records, the manchineel tree is in fact the most dangerous tree in the world.
根據吉尼斯世界紀錄，桃仁樹實際上是世界上最危險的樹。
As explained by the Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, all parts of manchineel are extremely poisonous, and "interaction with and ingestion of any part of this tree may be lethal".
正如佛羅里達食品和農業科學研究所解釋的那樣，芒果的所有部分都是劇毒的，“與這種樹的任何部分的相互作用和攝取都可能是致命的”。
Manchineel belongs to the large and diverse Euphorbia genus, which also contains the decorative Christmas poinsettia.
曼徹內爾屬於大而多樣的大戟屬，其中也含有裝飾性聖誕一品紅。
The tree produces a thick, milky sap, which oozes out of everything - the bark, the leaves and even the fruit - and can cause severe, burn-like blisters if it comes into contact with skin.
這種樹會產生一種厚厚的乳狀汁液，滲出所有的東西-樹皮，葉子，甚至水果-如果接觸到皮膚，可能會產生嚴重的燒傷樣水泡。
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