You should never plant a sandbox tree. It is too dangerous to have around people or animals, and when planted in isolated areas it is likely to spread.
Why is it that a warning about this murderous tree makes me want to plant a circle of them around my house? (Found via the Knuckledragger, thankee.)
Seriously: who needs those loud, messy (and illegal) Claymore thingies when you can get Mother Nature to provide this little party?
Sandbox tree fruits look like little pumpkins, but once they dry into seed capsules, they become ticking time bombs. When fully mature, they explode with a loud bang and fling their hard, flattened seeds at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour and distances of over 60 feet. The shrapnel can seriously injure any person or animal in its path. As bad as this is, the exploding seed pods are only one of the ways that a sandbox tree can inflict harm.
They even look badass:
Is it just me, or does this look like a spiked collar around the neck of an angry Rottweiler? It speaks to me, and what it says is: “Mess with me, motherfucker, and I will kill you.”
Want.
Afterthought: in the interests of Saving Mother Gaia, we should plant a ten-mile deep line of these bad boys along our southern border; I mean, who can be against reforestation?