Are there any plants that explode?

Jewelweed is an annual, meaning it lives only for one year and comes back from the seeds the next year. The seeds grow in pods, which expand in size, building up pressure – until they explode when touched. This is why they are also called touch-me-nots.

What element explodes in contact with water?

For decades, science enthusiasts have delighted at the famously energetic way sodium and potassium explode on contact with water.

Do plants explode?

Heat and dangerous reactions are the cause of many plant explosions. Gas leaks, most often caused by poor maintenance, result in a number of explosions each year. When gas leaks come into contact with a source of heat, they begin to expand and can explode.

Do pea pods explode?

Some plants have pods that explode when ripe and shoot out the seeds. Pea and bean plants also keep their seeds in a pod. When the seeds are ripe and the pod has dried, the pod bursts open and the peas and beans are scattered.

What is the plant that pops?

One common weed, the popping cress, has evolved a way to launch its seeds in an explosive burst that gives the plant its name. Its seeds are encased in a slender oblong pod. With a loud pop, the pod splits open and its sheaths curl back rapidly—like a coiled paper party horn when you stop blowing into it.

Is the dynamite tree real?

Hura crepitans, the sandbox tree, also known as possumwood and jabillo, is an evergreen tree of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), native to tropical regions of North and South America including the Amazon rainforest. Because its fruit explodes when ripe, it has also received the colloquial nickname the dynamite tree.

What element is the most explosive in water?

What is the most explosive element in water? The alkali metals (Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and Fr) are the most reactive metals in the periodic table – they all react vigorously or even explosively with cold water, resulting in the displacement of hydrogen.

Why do some metals explode in water?

When the water hits the metal, it releases electrons. After the electrons flee, positively charged atoms remain behind. Like charges repel. So those positive atoms push away from each other, creating the spikes.

What is bursting of seed?

The bursting of seeds are triggered by many environmental factors such as wind, rain and physical contact with an animal. If an animal triggers the seeds to burst, it may stick to the animal, enabling seed germination far away from the parent plant.

What plants explode to disperse their seeds?

Violets, poisonous squirting cucumbers, and touch-me-nots or Impatiens capensis (not to be confused with these touch-me-nots) have an effective way of dispersing their seeds: They burst! The forceful ejection sends the seeds flying as far away as possible from the original plant.

What plant shoots seeds?

Why do seeds explode?

Unexpectedly, this mechanism relies on the geometry of asymmetric secondary cell wall thickenings in the seed pod. These stiff cells’ walls are shaped like hinges, which can open. This flattens the cross-section of the seed pod wall, causing sudden mechanical failure of the structure and explosive coiling.