The sandbox tree can explode seed capsules hard enough to launch seeds like projectiles.

Seed dispersal usually sounds gentle: wind, fruit, birds, water, maybe a burr on clothing. The sandbox tree is less polite. Its dry seed capsules split open explosively, scattering seeds away from the parent tree. A New Phytologist study measured Hura crepitans seeds with average launch speeds around 43 meters per second, with one case exceeding 70 meters per second. Britannica also notes that the capsules can explode with enough force to injure people or livestock. This is plant reproduction as stored mechanical tension, not a passive seed drop.

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