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Behind the ballistics of the 'explosive' squirting cucumber

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Squirting cucumber (Ecballium elaterium). Credit: Helen Gorges 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 high-speed seeds far and wide. Seed dispersal comes in many

Watch this cucumber squirt out its seeds at ballistic speeds

Take a look at squirting cucumber explosive seed dispersal in real time and slowed down. Credit: Helen Gorges/CC BY-NC-ND 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 study "squirting" cucumbers—so called because they disperse their seeds by explosively propelling them out into the world. Scientists took a series of high-speed videos, both in t