The Sandbox Tree and Other Exploding Plants

Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!

MINI BELIEVE IT OR NOT –

The Sandbox Tree, Hura Crepitans, has a trunk covered in thorns and its fruit explodes when ripe.

The trees can grow to 60 meters (200 feet)
They’re native to tropical regions of North and South America
The fruit is a large capsule, and when it’s ripe it explodes and launches seeds at 70 meters per second (160 mph)

By M S via Flickr

Mini BION Extras

The sandbox tree isn’t the only plant that disperses seeds in this way
It’s called explosive dehiscence




MINI BION
“BIONs” – short for Believe It or Not – is the word we use at Ripley’s to refer to anything that is unbelievable and worthy to become part of Ripley’s lore and collection.

Source: The Sandbox Tree and Other Exploding Plants