Most Active Stories Mon June 18, 2012 Desert Plant's Potent
Chemical Cocktail Makes Mice Go 'Ptooey' In case you're not
planning a trip to the Negev, then I'm here to tell you about
something quite amazing that goes on between the plant and its
pal, the spiny mouse that lives in the Middle Eastern deserts.
The sweet mignonette (Ochradenus baccatus if you must know, and
also called Taily Weed) has some nice little fleshy fruits
growing on it. But you can't eat the fruit unless you do the
"ptooey." Here's how this bizarre twist of symbiotic behavior
between mouse and mignonette works: The mignonette is as good a
mixologist as you'll find in any trendy bar. It has two chemical
weapons in its fruit: An enzyme in the flesh and a glucosinolate
inside the fruit's seeds. Rule number one with these chemicals:
DO NOT MIX! As you would when, say, you bite into the fruit and
break open a seed inside. Because when that happens, the
chemicals combine to create what is called a "mustard oil bomb."
The mustard oil bomb "has