Ecballium
| Squirting cucumber | |
|---|---|
| Foliage, flower and fruit, Alicante, Spain. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Cucurbitales |
| Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cucurbitoideae |
| Tribe: | Bryonieae |
| Genus: | Ecballium A.Rich. |
| Species: | E. elaterium
|
| Binomial name | |
| Ecballium elaterium | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Ecballium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cucurbitaceae containing a single species, Ecballium elaterium, also called the squirting cucumber. 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.