New Zealand is home to a few prickly plants that you need to be careful of when you are out in nature. Here are 3 plants that can cause some serious pain.
For the most part I feel like I’m in a safe, fun place when I go walking in New Zealand. I don’t have to worry about coming around a bend in the trail and startling a bear. Nor do I have to worry I’m going to step on a snake when walking through thick grass. It’s just so pleasant to go walking here. There are just about no animals to be wary of, but there are a few plants to keep your eyes out for.
New Zealand’s Poisonous Plants
Unfortunately, New Zealand may be pretty safe in terms of dangerous wildlife, but there are many poisonous plants (about 100). Luckily, most of these poisonous plants would have to be ingested in a large quantity to cause death. About 10% of the calls the New Zealand poison center receives are related to plant exposure. But, there are few people hospitalized and only one known fatality. Here is a long list of poisonous plants to be aware of.
3 New Zealand Prickly Plants – Watch Out For These!
Personally, I have had some bad experiences coming across these prickly plants. I’ve been stuck attempting to cross blackberry bushes to reach a stream. I’ve also felt the stinging feeling on my skin when I inadvertently brushed against a tree nettle.
Gorse
This shrub was introduced in the 1800s from Europe to be used as a hedge and quickly spread. It’s now considered the worst scrub weed in New Zealand since it grows in pasture land and outcompetes young forest trees.
Gorse does so well in New Zealand that it flowers twice a year. It has yellow flowers and is covered in sharp thorns. Watch our for those thorns!
Tree Nettle or Onganona
This plant is covered in stinging hairs that are actually poisonous. If you brush up against the hairs your skin will become very irritated and feel like it’s burning. This is in fact one of only two native plants that is known to have killed someone!
It grows in coastal and lowland shrub areas up to 600 meters in elevation and can be in dense thickets up to 2 meters tall.
Blackberry
This is another introduced plant that has become a widespread weed in New Zealand. It was originally brought because people like to eat the blackberries.
It has spread and is now common. This also grows in dense thickets. The stems are covered in sharp thorns that cut seriously cut skin or clothing (as I know first hand). It is common along streams, wetlands, and the bush edge.