Plants aren’t big on noises, unless you count falling trees.
Exceptions include tomatoes, which make clicking sounds when stressed (it’s not known why, and the frequencies are above humans’ hearing range); rhubarb stalks, which creak as they grow; and the seedpods of gorse and spurges, which release their contents with an audible pop.
What is the noisiest plant?
As for the loudest, we can only guess: the ripe fruits of the squirting cucumber, a Mediterranean species, develop an internal pressure that propels them off the plant with an impressive squelch, scattering seeds as they go. They terrified the Romans – and for good reason.
And watching them explode is quite entertaining, according to David Attenborough.
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