squirting cucumbers in action [slow motion video]

not too long ago, we came across a small patch of squirting cucumbers (ecballium elaterium) in spain, and wanted to see their rather spectacular mode of seed propagation in action:

using hygroballochory, the species can expel its seeds into distances of up to 12 meters.

footage was recorded with a gopro hero 3 black at 120 fps, 720p. clips are in real-time, 4x slow motion, and (last sequence) 8x slow motion (i.e.15 fps), respectively.

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