Poisonwood Bible: Lit. Entry 2: What exactly is poisonwood?

So as my second article on The Poisonwood Bible, I want to find and deliver some information on the wood that made the book's title.

On page 39, Nathan Price (the father) tries to create a demonstrative garden to be, as Leah says, their "first African miracle: an infinite chain of benevolence rising from these small, crackling seed packets." (Kingsolver, 36). Nathan, who is used to American farming techniques but completely ignorant of the differences in the Congo, tries to cultivate the soil with "American techniques" and receives some correction from Mama Tataba, their helper, on the Congolese way to cultivate soil. She warns him about the consequences of pulling a certain small tree out of the ground with bare hands for example:

"'That one, brother, he bite,' she said, pointing her knuckly hand at a small tree he was wresting from his garden plot. White sap oozed from the torn bark. My father wiped his hands on his trousers. 'Poisonwood,' she added flatly, emphasizing the descending syllables as if she were equally tired of all three." (39)

Her advice goes unheeded however and Nathan wakes up with rashes and a swollen eye caused by some contact with the poisonwood. So what is poisonwood anyway?

There is an actual tree called the Poisonwood tree, which is related to the poison oak. Like the Poisonwood tree in the book, the real tree will cause skin irritations upon contact. It is the sap that causes these rashes so if the two poisonwood trees are the same, then the sap is what caused Nathan Price's troubles the morning after trying to pull up the tree. The sap may be contained in any part of the tree, so handling of the tree should be done with extreme caution.

All the information is found at: http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h/Poisonwood/poisonwo.htm

This image is from: http://www.samford.edu/schools/artsci/biology/belize/belizeplants.html

It was interesting to find that while I searched for information on this tree, many of the things that came up were on The Poisonwood Bible.

The Poisonwood tree that is pulled up in the book is a symbol of ignorance of the Congolese culture. In the scene that it appears, Nathan Price shows that he doesn't want to listen to Mama Tataba's advice, though she is more familiar on the Congolese culture than he is.