For ages, Africans have used myths to try and explain unusual occurrences that cannot be simplified by reason.
Unfortunately, most of these myths end up clouding the very phenomena they ought to demystify.
These beliefs are inculcated upon children at a very tender age through folklore and maxims. Since the 19th c
entury, the story of the human-eating tree in Madagascar has continued to dominate the realm of African traditional storytelling, with local and foreign authors creating varying accounts about the tree.
It is said that the people of Mkodo in ancient Madagascar used to perform human sacrifices by forcing one of their own to climb to the apex of the tree, which contained a treacle fluid.
The slender branches of the tree would then grab the victim by the neck and arms and strangle them to death. T
he contraction of the branches caused the treacle fluid to stream down the trunk, mixing with the blood and oozing guts of the victim.
The Mkodos would then drink the fluid and perform an outrageous and unspeakably gruesome orgy. This legendary carnivorous tree was locally referred to as “Ya-Te-Veo,” meaning “I see you.”
First reported in 1881 by a German explorer named Carl Liche, it was said to be a sacred and much-feared plant used in sacrifice rituals by the native Mkodo tribe. The South Austr
alian Register printed his account of a first-hand encounter with the Mkodo and their fearsome tree.
Forty years later, a former governor of Michigan turned explorer named Chase Osborn wrote about the tree in his book Madagascar, Land of the Man-Eating Tree, confirming Liche’s claims and adding that other tribes as well as missionaries also knew about the tree.
