A tropical tree native to Central and South America, also known as the toothache tree or spiny ash, used medicinally and in traditional medicine.
From Tupi or indigenous South American languages; the word reflects the onomatopoeia or indigenous naming convention of Amazonian plants. It entered English through naturalist texts from the colonial period.
The anapanapa tree got the name 'toothache tree' because people traditionally chewed its bark to numb dental pain—modern science shows it contains alkaloids that actually do produce a numbing sensation!
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