Squirting cucumbers blast their seeds over distances hundreds of times their length, and now scientists say they have found the secret to how the plants do it.

They filmed the seed dispersal using a high-speed camera, which captured up to 8,600 frames per second. They then measured the fruit and stem volume both before and after dispersal, performed indentation tests, took CT scans of an intact cucumber, and monitored the fruit with time-lapse photography in the days leading up to the seed launch.

A team led by the University of Oxford has solved a mystery that has intrigued scientists for centuries: how does the squirting cucumber squirt?

A team led by the University of Oxford has solved a mystery that has intrigued scientists for centuries: how does the squirting cucumber squirt? The findings, achieved through a combination of experiments,

The squirting cucumber Ecballium—not to be confused with the exploding cucumber Cyclanthera—is not a showy plant. It meanders on a vine on the ground, sprouting craggly green leaves and demure yellow flowers.

Scientists say they’ve worked out how the plant can fire its seeds up to almost 40 feet. The hairy, ground-hugging vines of the squirting cucumber Ecballium elaterium might seem like an ordinary weedy plant.