Squirting cucumbers, a toxic plant, perform remarkable ballistic seed dispersal. When ripe, their fluid-filled fruit bursts open, expelling seeds rapidly to enhance germination success and minimize competition with the parent plant. Ph.D. student Helen Gorges researched this mechanism, indicating the plant's fruit emerges at a consistent angle of over 50 degrees, optimizing distance and efficiency for dispersal. This work was shared at the Society for Experimental Biology conference and is detailed in an upcoming publication in npj Science of Plants.
The squirting cucumber is toxic but excels in seed dispersal; its ripe fruit bursts to expel seeds quickly, preventing competition for resources.
Helen Gorges and her colleagues studied the cucumber's mechanism by analyzing photos, finding it maintains a 50-degree angle for optimal seed dispersal.
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