*ballium*

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_;. See Ecbole. ] (Bot.) A genus of cucurbitaceous plants consisting of the single species Ecballium agreste (or Elaterium), the squirting cucumber. Its fruit, when ripe, bursts and violently ejects its seeds, together with a mucilaginous juice, from which elaterium, a powerful cathartic medicine, is prepared. [ 1913 Webster ]