Ecballium elaterium, Squirting cucumber, Exploding cucumber,
Wild Cucumber, Wild Balsam Apple, فقوس الحمار ,ירוקת החמור
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| | Scientific name: |
| Ecballium elaterium (L.) A.Richard |
| Common name: |
| Squirting cucumber,Exploding cucumber, Wild Cucumber, Wild Balsam
Apple |
| Hebrew name: |
| ירוקת החמור |
| Arabic name: |
| فقوس الحمار |
| Family: |
| Cucurbitaceae, דלועיים |
Date Picture Taken: May 24, 2008
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| | Life form: |
| Hemicryptophyte |
| Leaves: |
| Alternate, entire, dentate or serrate |
| Flowers: |
| Pale yellow, 5 petals, males in a raceme and females solitary. |
| Flowering Period: |
| April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December |
| Habitat: |
| Heavy soils |
| Distribution: |
| Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands |
| Chorotype: |
| Med - Irano-Turanian |
| Summer shedding: |
| Perenating |
Date Picture Taken: May 24, 2008
Derivation of the botanical name:
Ecballium, Greek ekballein, to cast out, referring to the forceful ejection of the seeds when the fruit is ripe (Greek)
elaterium, Greek elatos (to drive, strike), referring to the way in which the seeds are thrown out.referring to the forceful expulsion of seeds from this plant; also the extract is a violent purgative
- The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
- The standard author abbreviation A.Richard is used to indicate Achille Richard (1794 – 1852), a French botanist and physician.
Ecballium elaterium has been used medicinally since Classical times.
Theophrastus (370 — about 285 BCE), Enquiry into plants, book IX.9.4: "Of wild cucumber the root is used for white leprosy and for mange in sheep, while the extracted juice makes the drug called 'the driver.' It is collected in autumn, for then is the best".
Elaterium (a cathartic) is the feculence of the juice of the fruit of Ecballium Elaterium (Linné).
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