A small, hairy, toxic version of the cucumbers found in the produce aisle does have an advantage over its more palatable ...

Crazy plant,” cooed Helen Gorges, a biomechanist at Kiel University, after witnessing the ballistic seed dispersal of the squirting cucumber. In plant biomechanics, there are few vistas that can match ...

video: Squirting cucumber explosive seed dispersal (over 300x slowed down). view more Credit: Helen Gorges New research into the biomechanics of explosive seed dispersal in squirting cucumbers ...

An odd little gourd called the squirting cucumber has an explosive reproductive strategy that has intrigued naturalists since the days of the Roman Empire. Squirting cucumbers blast their seeds ...

Effective seed dispersal plays a critical role in this adaptation as it allows them to move on and colonise new, more stable environments. It is also thought that understanding the mechanics of ...

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 ...

Caption Squirting cucumber explosive seed dispersal (over 300x slowed down).

But what the squirting cucumber lacks in palatability, it makes up for in a feat of ballistic seed dispersal. When the fruit is ripe, it's puffed up with fluid, pressurized, and ready to burst.

But cut one open, and the whole thing explodes. So she took micro-CT scans of the fruit's interior, which revealed the seeds lined up in rows, awaiting their launch, round end first. "The seeds, they ...