Proboscidea althaeifolia (cultivated Devilˊs Claw)

Proboscidea althaeifolia (cultivated)

Common Name: Tohono Oˊodham Devilˊs Claw
Oˊodham Name: Iˊhug Audio
Group: Crop Plants － Crop Plants

Description

This is the cultivated Devilˊs Claw with a purple flower. In comparison, Ban Iˊhug is the smaller native plant, Proboscidea althaeifolia, which has a yellow flower. The fruit of the cultivated form are also longer, up to 12 inches in length.
The dried fruit are shredded lengthwise to create lovely black threads used in Oˊodham basketry.

Classification

Kingdom Plantae － Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta － Vascular plants

Superdivision Spermatophyta － Seed plants

Division Magnoliophyta － Flowering plants

Class Magnoliopsida － Dicotyledons

Subclass Asteridae

Order Scrophulariales

Family Pedaliaceae － Sesame family

Genus Proboscidea Schmidel － unicorn-plant

Species Proboscidea althaeifolia (Benth.) Decne. － desert unicorn-plant

More Information

USDA Plant Profile and Map