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 ...

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 over ...

OXFORD, England — In the Mediterranean countryside, gardeners have learned to approach a certain cucumber with caution. Not because it’s poisonous or thorny, but because this seemingly innocent plant ...

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 ...

“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 ...