Is the ‘suicide tree’ fruit from ‘The White Lotus’ real? All about the deadly poison from the season 3 finale

In The White Lotus‘ season 3 premiere, health mentor Pam (Morgana O’Reilly) warns the Ratliff family away from the fruit growing on the “mighty pong pong trees” outside their villa. “The seeds of the fruit are toxic,” she says. “It’s very poisonous.”

Fast-forward eight episodes to the season 3 finale and Timothy (Jason Isaacs) is again asking Pam about the fruit. “The locals actually call it ‘the suicide tree’ because people grind up the seeds and eat them when they wanna kill themselves,” she explains. “So don’t eat it.”

After its role in the finale, fans are curious about whether this fruit (and the tree it grows on) is real — and if its reputation is as deadly as we’re told. Read on to learn all about the pong pong tree, how its fruit is utilized in the finale, and what it feels like to ingest those poison seeds. Spoiler: not good.

Is The White Lotus‘ “suicide tree” real?

The pong pong tree, otherwise known as “the suicide tree,” is very real — and just as deadly as Pam suggests.

A 2018 study in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine notes that the plant, also known as Cerbera odollam, grows primarily in wet areas in South India, Madagascar, and Southeast Asia. The fruit that grows on its branches is called othalanga, and it has a bitter taste.

The Journal of Emergency Medicine notes, as do most studies of the plant, that it is “frequently used for suicidal ingestion.”

How frequently?

More than you might think, sad to say.

One 2004 study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology credits the pong-pong tree for roughly a death per week in Kerala, India, where 537 people died from the poison between 1989 and 1999. The tree has claimed lives for centuries, with the study noting a related species in Madagascar that at one point resulted in the deaths of up to 3,000 people per year.

“To the best of our knowledge, no plant in the world is responsible for as many deaths by suicide as the odollam tree,” reads the study, which credits it with “about 50% of plant poisoning cases and 10% of all poisoning cases in Kerala.”

The othalanga is still responsible for many deaths today. In 2012, seven students in Kerala made headlines after attempting to end their lives by consuming the fruit. Three years later, four rowing athletes did the same, resulting in one of them dying.

But the fruit isn’t just used by those looking to end their own lives — researchers also say it’s used in homicides. According to a 2004 article in New Scientist, lead researcher Yvan Gaillard said it would be difficult to detect poisoning via the plant unless there was clear evidence the victim had eaten it. “It is the perfect murder,” he said.

What does its poison do to the body?

The Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine defines the bioactive toxin in the plant as “cerberin,” a compound that attacks the heart.

Most studies list nausea and vomiting as symptoms, while others cite acute abdominal pain as well. Those who have ingested the fruit may also experience arrhythmias — cerberin, like other cardiac glycosides, impacts the sodium-potassium pump that regulates the heart, which can lead to heart failure and death.

How is pong-pong poisoning treated?

The best treatment, per multiple studies, includes the medicine atropine and temporary pacemaker insertion.

There is, however, no magic cure to alleviate the effects of the othalanga. “The biggest problem is that there is no real antidote to this poison,” an expert told The New York Times in 2018.

How is the tree and its fruit utilized on The White Lotus?

After Pam lets it slip to Timothy that the seeds can be crushed and put into food or drink, the Ratliff patriarch decides to mix it in with a batch of piña coladas.

Just as his family — sans Lochlan (Sam Nivola), who Timothy spares — is about to consume their poisoned drinks, Timothy has a change of heart and knocks the glasses from their hands. Unfortunately, he forgets to clean out the blender, which is coated in the residue of his cruel mixology.

The next morning, Lochlan makes himself a protein shake without cleaning the blender. An odd choice, perhaps, but after being denied a drink the night before, the underage Lochlan was happy to slurp up the dregs. He gets sick soon after consuming it, and begins vomiting and having visions of his own death.

Does Lachlan die in The White Lotus season 3 finale?

Thankfully, Lochlan’s dose wasn’t fatal, and he wakes up in Timothy’s arms.

His survival is likely due to the dosage, which looked quite small. The Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine notes that “high doses of Cerbera odollam carries the highest risk of mortality,” so it seems Lochlan is lucky there wasn’t more than a splash left in the blender.

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