Ecballium elaterium
| Ecballium elaterium | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 9 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 1' |
| Width: | 3' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Late Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Medicinal Rating: | |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Ecballium elaterium (common name: squirting cucumber)
Propagation: Seed - sow early spring in rich compost in a greenhouse. Place 2 - 3 seeds per pot and thin to the strongest plant. The seed usually germinates in 10 - 21 days at 25°c[1]. Grow the plants on fast and plant them out after the last expected frosts.
Cultivation: Prefers a moist well-drained soil in a sunny position[2][3]. Grows best in a rich soil[4]. Another report says that it succeeds in poor soils[5].
The foliage is fairly frost-tender, though the roots are much hardier and plants can survive quite cold winters in Britain[2]. They are more likely to be killed by excessive winter wet[2].
The squirting cucumber is sometimes cultivated for its use as a medicinal plant[6].
The ripening fruit becomes pumped full of liquid, leading to an increase in pressure. As the seed becomes ripe, this pressure forces the fruit to break away explosively from the plant, ejecting its seed to a considerable distance in the opposite direction. The plant occasionally self-sows in our Cornwall trial ground[K] and can become a weed in warmer climates than Britain[K]. It is subject to statutory control as a weed in Australia[5].
Range: Europe - Mediterranean. Naturalized in Britain at a few locations along the south coast[7].
Habitat: Hot dry places on waste ground and roadsides[8][2], usually close to the coast[9].
Medicinal: The squirting cucumber has been used as a medicinal plant for over 2,000 years, though it has a very violent effect upon the body and has little use in modern herbalism[5][10].
The juice of the fruit is antirheumatic, cardiac and purgative[4][9][11][2][12]. The plant is a very powerful purgative that causes evacuation of water from the bowels[5]. It is used internally in the treatment of oedema associated with kidney complaints, heart problems, rheumatism, paralysis and shingles[2][5]. Externally, it has been used to treat sinusitis and painful joints[5]. It should be used with great caution and only under the supervision of a qualified practitioner[13][5]. Excessive doses have caused gastro-enteritis and even death[9]. It should not be used by pregnant women since it can cause an abortion[9].
The fully grown but unripe fruits are harvested during the summer, they are left in containers until the contents are expelled and the juice is then dried for later use[6][5].
The root contains an analgesic principle[14].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Late Summer-Early Fall
Flower Type: Monoecious
Known Hazards: Poisonous in large quantities[9] (this probably refers to the fruit). The juice of the fruit is irritative to some skins[15].
Links
References
- ↑ Bird, Alfred. Focus on Plants Volume 5. Thompson and Morgan, 1991.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Organ, John. Gourds. Faber, 1963.
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Bown, Deni. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, 1995.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Polunin, Oleg. Flowers of Greece and the Balkans. Oxford University Press, 1980.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Chiej, Roberto. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald, 1984.
- ↑ Stuart, Malcolm. The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism. Orbis Publishing, 1979.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Polunin, Oleg. Flowers of the Mediterranean. Hogarth Press, 1987.
- ↑ Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Chopra, R. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1986.
- ↑ Niebuhr, Alta. Herbs of Greece. Herb Society of America, 1970.