One of Nature's

And you my friend, are far too kind!

I really like that story---that is great. Thanks for sharing it. The only thing I had been told about these from our plant researcher friend is that they have been around for a very, very long time and were designed for very large hoofs of the large land roaming animals that are not extinct.

But the story is much for interesting.

[Edited on 6-24-2012 by DianaT]

that thing reminds me of a thorn that grows along beach in Pto Escondido, Oaxaca. the Nahuatl word for this area was Zicatela, meaning “place of large thorns." nobody knew about these back then, so we'd be sprinting across the 350 degree sand as it melted the skin off our soles and then land on one of those evil thorns that were shaped like a peace sign with 2 inch daggers on the 3 points.

they weren't everywhere, but there were enough to make you cringe as you started running. kinda like the sea snakes down there, but that's another story....





[Edited on 6-24-2012 by woody with a view]

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view that thing reminds me of a thorn that grows along beach in Pto Escondido, Oaxaca. the Nahuatl word for this area was Zicatela, meaning “place of large thorns." nobody knew about these back then, so we'd be sprinting across the 350 degree sand as it melted the skin off our soles and then land on one of those evil thorns that were shaped like a peace sign with 2 inch daggers on the 3 points. they weren't everywhere, but there were enough to make you cringe as you started running. kinda like the sea snakes down there, but that's another story.... [Edited on 6-24-2012 by woody with a view]

plant things

Wonderful photo Diana. One of my favorite plants (in a very long list ). On my forays in washes, I've often looked down to see what was catching in my boot laces, only to find a fruit or two caught in them. I have noticed that the fruits act like tumbleweeds as well -- I've found a number of times large concentrations of the fruit, obviously blown up against an obstacle (like a bush or a small dune formed around a clump of grass).

Seed dispersal is cool. As the fruit progressively splits open, it releases its seeds over a period of time but a number of seeds are held tightly deep down in the cleft and aren't liberated until much later, like the plant is hedging its bets and giving an animal or the wind time to transport its seeds far away and perhaps save them for better germinating conditions. The seeds are camouflaged, and look like tiny bits of charcoal or bark.

Mexitron: for the area around Asuncion the species would be Proboscidea althaeifolia. Some very current refs have it still in the Unicorn Plant family, Martyniaceae, while others want to place it in the Sesame family (Pediliaceae)

Wiggins and a flora list for Vizcaino Biosphere reserve have that species present in the area. The refs have P. parviflora occuring much farther north and extensively in mainland Mexico and AZ +, though I have collected a variety of it in the Comondu area.

Debra,
Somehow I missed your explanation---thanks it is interesting to read about the seed dispersal and you and Mexitron can decided parviflora or althaeifolia, I will stick with the simple name of Devil's claw.

This one was in the Santa Clara mountains.

Glad you were there!

[Edited on 7-5-2012 by DianaT]