At maturity, the cannon ball-like fruits fall to the ground where they often crack open, revealing a mass of bluish-green pulp that exudes a fetid aroma and surrounds hundreds of seeds. Mammals (such as peccaries and pacas) further break open the fruits and swallow the pulp along with the seeds. Protected by specialized, intertwining hairs, the seeds pass through the mammal’s digestive track and germinate away from the mother tree, where they have a better chance of growing into the next generation of cannon ball trees.