Ecballium elaterium(L.) A.Rich.

국표에 없다.

Ecballium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cucurbitaceae containing a single species, Ecballium elaterium, also called the squirting cucumber or exploding cucumber (not the same plant as Cyclanthera brachystachya), as well as the noli me tangere and its English translation touch-me-not . Its unusual common name derives from the ripe fruit squirting a stream of mucilaginous liquid containing its seeds as a means of seed dispersal, an example of rapid plant movement.[ Ecballium은 Cucurbitaceae 계통의 꽃 피는 식물로, 단일 종인 Ecballium elaterium을 포함하고 있으며, 오이 또는 폭발하는 오이(Cyclanthera brachystachya와 같은 식물이 아니라)라고도 불린다. 그것의 특별한 일반적인 이름은 빠른 식물 운동의보기인 종자 분산의 수단으로 그것의 씨를 포함하는 점액질 액체의 시내를 분출하는 익은 과일에서 파생한다.]

 

Distribution

E. elaterium is native to Europe, northern Africa, and temperate areas of Asia, and is considered an invasive species. It is grown as an ornamental plant elsewhere, and in some places it has naturalized.

Seed dispersal

The tissue in the fruit of the Ecballium elaterium that surrounds the seeds is made of large, thin-walled cells facilitating the propulsive release of seeds by "squirting". Pressure to expel the seeds is created by the increased concentration of a glucoside called elaterinidin in the sap of the fruit tissue's cells, leading to a turgor pressure of up to 27 atms. The pressure builds up until its force detaches the fruit from the stalk. At the same time, the pericarp contracts and the fruit and seeds are ejected through the hole produced by detachment. The pressure-building method may depend on the Phloem sieve tubes, indicating that the squirting mechanism can be decreased in water stressed conditions.

 

The fruit also uses hygroscopic movement and stored elastic energy to squirt the seeds out of the fruit. This method is done passively where the fruit changes its structure as it dehydrates and deteriorates, causing movement. This movement may be due to coiling, bending, or twisting cells to change its morphological shape as the cells dry. Because drying cells are mostly made up of cell wall, the shape is determined by the cell wall, providing a method for catapulting of seeds to eject them out of the plant.

Sudden movements in plant tissues are prone to different types of mechanical instabilities. In the case of E. elaterium, due to the relationship between the duration of movement and the size of the tissue, the plant tissue fractures. Effectiveness of the dispersal seems to be low as a study found that even though the E. elaterium could have sprayed its seed to the whole plot, the size and location of the infested areas remained relatively similar.

 

 

Ecballium - Wikipedia