
"Ecballium" is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cucurbitaceae containing a single species, "Ecballium elaterium", also called the squirting cucumber or exploding cucumber. Its unusual common name derives from the ripe fruit squirting a stream of mucilaginous liquid containing its seeds as a means of seed dispersal, an example of rapid plant movement.
Similar species: Begonias, Gourds
By karin65207
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Uploaded May 17, 2012. Captured Jun 8, 2011 09:16 in Carrer Port Empúries, 53, 17487 Empuriabrava, Girona, Spain.