from the Greek ekballo (to throw out), in reference to the active seed discharge

Monoecious trailing herbs, fleshy, hispid, perennial with thickened rootstock. Tendrils absent. Leaves simple, triangular to ovate, cordate, undulate. Male flowers in axillary bracteate racemes; hypanthium broadly campanulate; calyx 5-lobed, the lobes lanceolate; corolla deeply 5-lobed, the lobes ovate, acute, yellow; stamens 3, inserted on hypanthium; anthers all bilocular; locules flexuose, triplicate; disc absent. Female flowers solitary, sometimes co-axillary with males; perianth similar to males; staminodes absent; ovary ellipsoidal, setose; ovules many, horizontal; stigmas 3, bifid, subulate, recurved. Fruit ellipsoidal, juicy at maturity, bristly, dehiscing actively through ruptured attachment of pedicel. Seeds numerous, ovate, smooth.

A monotypic genus native to the Mediterranean region and SW Asia, widely naturalised in tropical and temperate regions.

Flora of Australia Volume 8