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| Devil Pickle (Ecballium elaterium) collected in Los Nietos (Cartagena) |
The fruits of Ecballium elaterium are similar to those of a green melon type "Piel de sapo", but when trying to shoot out to catch them ... and they seem as hollow. The painting is of a melon very well adapted to dry conditions and early. Even being green if you try to cut is so much pressure within the fire and puts you lost ... This is called disilente dehiscence. I found near a highway in Los Nietos (Cartagena) and our plantation ESEA (La Palma, Cartagena). But it's a very common plant. Not far away is planted melon. juice released by the plant can be irritating to the face and interior contained two seeds (see photo taken in Los Nietos, Cartagena, Murcia). Even cutting with a sharp cutter shows disilente activity. You can see more data on:
http://www.heraldo.es/blogs/elbuenjardinero/?p=79 Interestingly, some nearly isogenic lines of melon we have studied have a similar problem when cutting fruits, especially if you leave a peduncle long enough. This is the case for example of fruit very hard lines as SC7-2 or SC10-2, especially if they are watered well before harvest.
