ecballium

Ec*bal"li*um, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. Ecbole.] (Bot.) Defn: A genus of cucurbitaceous plants consisting of the single species Ecballium agreste (or Elaterium), the squirting cucumber. Its fruit, when ripe, bursts and violently ejects its seeds, together with a mucilaginous juice, from which elaterium, a powerful cathartic medicine, is prepared.

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