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Comment by tau255 | Hacker News Reader

A plant with similarly exploding feature is Impatiens parviflora [1]. It is quite easy to spot in the wild in Europe.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impatiens_parviflora

I found details of the Impatiens Parviflora and its exploding properties on the Spanish Wikipedia. But digging deeper, it seems the general term for exploding seeds is "Ballocoria" (Latin), only found in a sub-section:

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispersi%C3%B3n_de_los_prop%C3...

https://grok.com/share/bGVnYWN5LWNvcHk%3D_e1c522fa-64ae-4864...

I have found some footage of the seedpod exploding [1]. It seems that Impatiens parviflora is invasive species that propagated from botanical gardens in Europe. One research [2] states it can shoot seed up to 3.4 meters.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QUzag5u7Pi0 [2] über Impatiens parviflora Dc. als Agriophyt in mitteleuropa, L Trepl - 1984

> Impatiens parviflora (small balsam, or small-flowered touch-me-not)

I love how that Wikipedia article never mentions why it's called "touch-me-not."

If you don't already know why, it's simply not to be touched.

Good idea! I added a sentence explaining where the name comes from to the Wikipedia article.

And I removed what I can only think was a typo in your sentence :-).

>The name comes from the ~~seeds~~ fact that ripe seed pods explode when touched to disperse seeds widely.

Oh, chuck, now it's just a normal Wikipedia article. ;)

Thanks for the edit.

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