Pests > Pest Management > Quarantine > Interceptions > Plants & Fruit > Hura crepitans, seed pod, Australia
Pests Pest Management Quarantine Interceptions Plants & Fruit Hura crepitans, seed pod, Australia
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| August 2002. Seed pods were intercepted by Australia quarantine, and an identification was required. The seed pod as collected in Papua New Guinea as a souvenir. This pod is 7-8 cm diam. and 3 cm high. The pod has definite segments and within each segment sits a cosy fitting, large but narrow seed.
After some false starts, when it was suggested that it was a sea urchin, it was identified by members as Hura crepitans, sandbox tree, a member of the Euphorbiaceae. Be careful of this seed pod. It has an explosive dispersal mechanism, which causes it to explode when sufficiently dried out. It is in the Book of Exploding Fruits. It is a native of tropical America and the tree has rather toxic sap.
Information can be found at waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0901c.htm for pictures of flowers, trees and that weird seed pod. This species is a quarantine weed in Western Australia.
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