File:Proboscidea parviflora fruits in field.jpg

From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Original file(919 × 720 pixels, file size: 290 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Captions

Captions

Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents

Summary

[edit]
Description
English: Proboscidea parviflora - A very important traditional indigenous edible and useful plant of the southwest United States. When green the distinctive curve of this fruit earned the name 'unicorn' plant, but when dry the fruits split along the spine to form a two large hooks, known as the 'double claw' or 'devil's claws', 'ram's horns' that easily catch on anything brushing past to disperse the seeds. (Not to be confused with the African 'devil's claw' of a completely different species and different use.) Proboscidea parviflora, 'double claw' fruits when picked young and tender green can be cooked like okra or pickled. Older, larger fruits are allowed to dry. The dried seeds are edible and highly nutritious, and can be eaten dry, crushed for oil or ground into flour. The long, dried curved seed pods are collected for basket-making. These pods are made of an unusually tough fiber and are split along the longest lengths to form dark, rugged cords that are highly valued for traditional Native culture basketry. Proboscidea parviflora is one of several very similar varieties, distinguished by its purple/pink flowers with a yellow nectar guide stripe. The plant's leaves and fruits are hairy and sticky, but this stickiness easily washes off. The plant is distinguished by a strong upright stalk that then forms a Y, as clearly shown in this photo. When heavy with fruit and foliage, this stalk may bend over to rest on the ground, and with the plant's leaf shape, it can be mistaken at a quick glance for a pumpkin vine, but a closer look reveals the Y stalk structure. Each pod contains about 30 seeds.
Date
Source Own work
Author T.K. Naliaka

Licensing

[edit]
I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license:
w:en:Creative Commons
attribution share alike
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
You are free:
  • to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
  • to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
  • attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  • share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current04:51, 4 September 2017Thumbnail for version as of 04:51, 4 September 2017919 × 720 (290 KB)Piki-photow (talk | contribs)User created page with UploadWizard

There are no pages that use this file.