Plant Culture of Poison Arrow Tree

1. In the legend of Dai people

According to legend, there was a hunter in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, who was the first to discover that the sap of the poison arrow tree was poisonous. One day, the hunter was accidentally spotted by a huge bear while hunting. The bear kept chasing him. He finally had no choice but to climb up a big tree, but the bear did not give up and kept chasing him. Finally, there was no way to go and he was about to be eaten by the bear. At this moment, the hunter broke off a branch and stabbed the bear that was climbing up the tree. As a result, a miracle happened. The bear suddenly fell to the ground and died. So after that incident, all the hunters in Xishuangbanna learned to smear the juice of poison arrow tree on their arrows when hunting. There is also a legend among the Dai people that a long time ago there was a big flood in Xishuangbanna. After the flood, people rebuilt their houses, and then many tigers came. Those tigers hurt many people. Among them was a man named Bohongsha. In order to kill the tigers, he drank a lot of poison. Then his blood seeped into the ground and a tree grew. The tree absorbed the man's blood and grew into a poisonous tree.

2. In Indian legend

A long time ago, there was a poisonous plant growing in the place where the Indians lived, which was the poison arrow tree. The people who lived there often cut a hole in the trunk of the tree to let the juice inside flow out, and then smeared it on the arrows to hunt. Later, when the Indians were attacked by invaders, they smeared this juice on their bows and arrows, and the invaders died instantly after being hit by the arrows. And they used this method every time afterwards, and they won every time. The invaders were so scared that they never dared to invade again. They were very tenacious in defending their homes.