Stats

Lifespan

Up to 100 yrs

Size

Huge

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Tropical rainforest

Range

The Americas

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Spines

Status

Uncommon

About

This spiny evergreen tree grows in the tropical rainforests of the Americas. Its fruit capsules explode with enough force to launch seeds over forty meters away.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Malpighiales

Family

Euphorbiaceae

Genus

Hura

Species

Hura crepitans