# Some type of Squash?



## alidansma (Jun 30, 2006)

The flowers have a distint odor, very strong.
here is a picture:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v633/alidansma/Squash.jpg










It just planted itself in with the onions...but the onions don't have much longer to go, so maybe it can stay, I just wish I knew what it was.
Thanks!
~ali


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

Not a squash...I've seen this once before back about 8 years ago in my CA garden but for the life of me can't remember what it was...and yes there was an oder but mine was yellow flowered. I remember when I did find out what it was that it was a really neat thing to have pop up. I think it's related to african violets/ gloxinas


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## alidansma (Jun 30, 2006)

is it edible?


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## JuliaAnn (Dec 7, 2004)

Wish I had something like that just pop up...

It's beautiful. Maybe you could carefully dig it and move it to a flower bed?


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

devil's claw


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## naturelover (Jun 6, 2006)

Meloc is right that it is Devil's Claw, and it's a nasty invasive plant to have in your garden if you have children or pets that might get near it. It's not a carnivorous plant but the leaves are slimy with resin that doesn't wash off easily and the claws on it are designed to hook into and trap small animals or birds and hold them til they die. The roots have medicinal properties but that's about the only thing good about it. You can read more about it here. http://www.carnivorousplants.org/seedbank/species/Proboscidea.htm

.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

who designed those claws? lol

i differ in opinion a bit. i think the flowers are quite showy. the pods are quite a novelty and are sold often as such. i have one holding two curtains together in a hallway window upstairs, lol. some folks refer to the pod as a "bird of paradise", although it has nothing to do with the more commonly known bird of paradise fauna. the seeds are fairly large and the pods should be easy enough to collect, so i don't think it would be invasive in a garden if one were to show just a bit of care.


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## littlejoe (Jan 17, 2007)

Wow! There's a lot of useless "information" on the internet.

Funny, that the claws are designed to kill! Sounds pretty darned dangerous to me...must be some kind of toxin in them?

Actually I've never seen them as highly invasive. They tend to grow along the edges of a field or idle land. As a kid we gathered the seeds and soaked them in salt water, then dried, and ate them. I do remember eating some young ones that were pickled too. Don't know why you couldn't bread and fry some? I think I'll give it a try this summer, if they don't kill me while gathering.

The claws (while not sharp) are designed to catch and carrry for a ways, the seed. The seed is relatively large and heavy, and otherwise wouldn't travel far.



naturelover said:


> Meloc is right that it is Devil's Claw, and it's a nasty invasive plant to have in your garden if you have children or pets that might get near it. It's not a carnivorous plant but the leaves are slimy with resin that doesn't wash off easily and the claws on it are designed to hook into and trap small animals or birds and hold them til they die. The roots have medicinal properties but that's about the only thing good about it. You can read more about it here. http://www.carnivorousplants.org/seedbank/species/Proboscidea.htm
> 
> .


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## Mid Tn Mama (May 11, 2002)

Thanks for this, I was trellising it thinking it was some luffa seeds leftover from last year. Thanks for the heads up before the pods opened.


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