"Ballistic seed dispersal" is not something you see often in plants – and for good reason, perhaps, when you see just what the affectionately called squirting cucumber is capable of. Shunning external ...

Take a look at squirting cucumber explosive seed dispersal in real time and slowed down. Credit: Helen Gorges/CC BY-NC-ND One doesn’t normally associate ballistics with botany, but most of us don’t ...

Since plants do not have muscles; rapid movements, like the exploding seed pods of popping cress, are rare in the plant kingdom. Scientists from different disciplines, led by Angela Hay, a plant ...

New research into the biomechanics of explosive seed dispersal in squirting cucumbers (Ecballium elaterium) reveals how these plants have adapted a suite of unique traits that help propel their ...

Three summers ago, Kiel University biomechanist Stainslav Gorb, returned to Germany after a vacation in Turkey with a present for Ph.D. student Helen Gorges. "He came back and was like, 'Helen, I ...

The squirting cucumber (Ecballium elaterium) is named for the ballistic method the species uses to disperse its seeds. When ripe, the ovoid-shaped fruits detach from the stem and eject the seeds ...

C. hirsuta seed pods consist of two, long valves. When the seeds are ready for dispersal, these valves rapidly separate and coil back, firing seeds out across a large area. The secret to these pods ...