Field Trip: Klang

It has come to my attention that in the royal city of Klang (Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia), there lives a tree with great poison. It is known by many names, including the sassywood or the red-water ordeal tree (Erythrophleum suaveolens, Fabaceae). This species hails from Africa, but it has become naturalised in parts of Malaysia and Singapore as an ornamental shade tree. Feared and revered in its native range, the red-water ordeal tree is so named because its trunk (bark) yields a red coloured decoction that is rapidly lethal to humans. 

 

Let's go !!! Well, it's not that hard to find a huge tree in the center of a city.

In parts of Africa, certain tribes believe in a system of justice called trial by ordeal. Those accused of crime will be subjected to torture, poison or life threatening 'tests'. Suspects who survive the ordeal will be found innocent, and those who don't are declared guilty on the spot! The red-water is used for exactly this purpose. It is narcotic at first, purgative later, and absolutely fatal in higher doses. Those who vomited will be pronounced innocent, those who purge from the other end will be deemed guilty, and force fed the poisonous red-water until they die. Death comes quickly in less than 30 minutes. What's most scary is that the red-water ordeal is still very much alive and performed as of today. To me, that's a poison that I can never miss! It's actually an alkaloid called cassaine that stops the heart, but we will deal with it in [Science] next time. 

The characteristic bark with red sap, triple checked!

Specimen taken, the red-water needs no elaboration. Don't ask me what I'm going to do with it, but we will find out sooner or later.

The most important specimen is of course the seeds! In fact, the seeds are claimed to be even more poisonous than the bark, but I have a different plan for them.

A month later....

Hooray !

Mission accomplished. One down, and more to go!

Apart from the red-water ordeal tree, I can't find any more reasons to be back to Klang anytime soon. It is however famous for another kind of poison called the ''Bak-Kut-Teh'', which is chronically fatal if ingested. Not that I'm interested and it's none of our business here.