Devil's Claw

From a hike the other day:

 A pile of devil's claw seed pods near the river bottom.

 I thought the shadows were kind of cool.

And I also thought this tangle of barbed wire was kind of cool.

More Devil's Claw

As promised, here are some pictures of the claws as the fruit ripens. The green husk splits and turns brown. The husk peels off after the curly part splits open. The reasoning for this odd-looking fruit is seed dispersal....An animal steps into one and the hooks grab the leg - it is carried some distance before it is shaken or bitten off.

Devil's Claw

This is what a Devil's Claw looks like before its the familiar looking, dried up pod most people think of when they hear the term Devil's Claw.

Kind of looks like an out-of-place pumpkin patch here.

Nice looking flower

Here is the fruit starting to grow. The long curved part is what will eventually dry up and split open forming the 'devil's claw'

Such large leaves should be an open buffet line for a host of insects, but this one doesn't seem to have many takers. The leaves and stems have kind of dewy/sticky hairs all over - must not be very tasty. This was about all the damage I saw.

If this one makes it far enough, I'll post some pictures of the final pod, too.