Citation: A. Rich., in Bory, Dict. Class. Hist. Nat. 6:19 (1824).

Derivation: Latin ecballo, to throw out; alluding to the active seed discharge.

Synonymy: Not Applicable

Common name: None

Description:
Trailing herbs with annual stems from perennial rootstocks; stems thick, scabrid; tendrils absent; leaves simple, triangular to ovate, cordate, pubescent on the lower surface, scabrid on the upper surface.

Male flowers in axillary bracteate racemes; hypanthium broadly campanulate; calyx 5-lobed, lobes lanceolate; corolla deeply 5-lobed, lobes ovate, acute, yellow; stamens 3; filaments inserted on the hypanthium; anthers 2 2-locular, 1 1-locular, locules flexuose; disk absent; female flowers solitary, sometimes co-axillary with males; perianth similar to males; staminodes absent; ovary ellipsoidal, setose; ovules many, horizontal; stigmas 3, 2-fid, subulate, recurved.

Fruit ellipsoidal, juicy at maturity, bristly, dehiscing actively through ruptured attachment of the pedicel; seeds many, ovate, smooth.

Distribution:  Monotypic genus native to the Mediterranean region and south-western Asia, naturalised in temperate Australia including S.Aust.

Biology: No text

Author: Not yet available