If you’ve never seen a tree bleed – like REALLY bleed – then get ready to be slightly terrified.
Pictures of a tree that appeared to be bleeding from a gash were uploaded to Imgur less than a day ago and have already received over 230,000 views.
That definitely looks like blood, and a lot of it. It’s hard to believe it’s real, but it is. This creepy looking phenomenon would make sense if the tree were located on an ancient indian burial ground, but it’s not.
It wasn’t immediately clear what type of tree it was, but after some searching we found out it’s known as pterocarpus angolensis, or wild teak. The crazy thing is that the tree looks perfectly normal until it gets cut into. Also known as Bloodwood, this tree has dark red sap that flows freely from any wound it receives.
What’s the cause of the red hue to the sap? Tannins.
Tannins cause the sap to be dark red. Most plants contain around 12-20% tannins while bloodwood contains 77%.
So the blood from the tree isn’t actually anything terrifying, or blood at all for that matter.
