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Yellow Devils Claw

Proboscidea lutea

Photo by HemaShah
Published on Project Noah
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37.92, -122.044

Field Notes

Description:

Yellow Devil's Claw (syn. Ibicella lutea) is an annual species from the southern USA. It is considered a pre-carnivorous plant which passively catches small insects with sticky glue on stems and leaves. It has showy orange-yellow flowers, followed by fruits containing woody seed capsules with a recurved pointed tip. Sow in mid spring in pots and keep pots outside in a protected and sunny spot. Seeds of this species are slow in germination and may take several months. A sharp drop from daytime temperature (some 25°C) to nightime temperature (some 10°C) will significantly shorten the germination process. Transplant in early summer to the final spot. For any humus rich, well drained soil in full sun. VII-IX.
http://www.rareplants.de/shop/product.asp?P_ID=10513

Notes:

http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Ibicella+…
http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq5720.html

Species ID Suggestions

Devil’s claw

Proboscidea lutea

Reference Link
AmberLundeen
1

Comments (24)
HemaShah
pcpower, some of the flora and fauna is introduced in a country. Sometimes accidently and sometimes intentionally .California has a Mediterranean climate and we do have quite a few species from that area .Dispersal of seeds could be another factor via wind, birds ,animals ,water etc.
pcpower99
I live in Tigre, near Buenos Aires city and found one of these in my backyard. I can´t explain how this specimen traveled so far. pcpower99 at hotmail
HemaShah
@ Craig , I will borrow your words" vicious seed dispersal mechanism "and add it as a tag to my spotting. Thanks so much.
HemaShah
I have saved the seed pod and seeds if any one is interested. In the wild,this plant probably serves the same purpose as a pitcher plant since it is pre carnivorous. Some scientist have labeled it as precarnivorous ,but there is an ongoing debate on that!
craigwilliams
Wow! I've seen the seed pods of this before (such a vicious seed dispersal mechanism, I certainly wouldn't want to be a passing animal!) but never knew which plant they came from. Thanks Emma!
HemaShah
Thanks! I think it is . Thanks tp Amber for identifying it!!
p.young713
I saw the seed pods a very interesting plant,
HemaShah
@Scott, Picture number 3 and 4 are the fruit pod. After the fruit pod dries up it exposes the clawed seed pod which hooks on to passing animals for dispersal. picture number 4 shows the clawed seed pod. Picture number 5 shows the skull shaped seeds which squeezed out of the seed pod.
HemaShah
I wass finally able to see the "Devils Claw." these are very well hidden under the foliage. Due to Fall all the leaves have fallen off. The plants produce long, hooked seed pods. The hooks catch on the feet of animals, and as the animals walk, the pods are ground or crushed open, dispersing the seeds.
HemaShah
i am really interested in getting a picture of its fruit ,which is in the shape of a claw.
HemaShah
@ Jean and @ Scott and pyoung we finally have an Id ,thnx to Amber. "Proboscidea lutea, a dicot, is an annual herb that is not native to California; it was introduced from elsewhere and naturalized in the wild."
HemaShah
@ amber Thnx so much!! Your Id skills are out of the ordinary!!
AmberLundeen
Here's a link with better photos of my ID suggestion http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/img_query?rel-taxon=contains&where-taxon=Proboscidea+lutea|Ibicella+lutea
HemaShah
@ scott ,this seems to be wild.
HemaShah
@ scott. i found this in Heather Farms nature reserve,They have a lot of Bee activity.
ScottRasmussen
Where did you find this? Was it in an area where it seemed like it was a wild plant or is it a cultivated plant? It's impressive, whatever it is.
HemaShah
does not look like a Phlomis sp either.
HemaShah
@ Jean ,this calls for further research! Will keep you updated. Thnx!
JeanC.Fisher
Yah... But take a look at the flowers on your Cucurbita M. and, not only what they look like but how they are growing from the stem of the plant... Squash flowers are solitary -- one flower to one stem. These flowers are actually in what a botanist would call a "whorl" -- but, nevertheless, several flowers to the one stem. If you think of each of those flowers bearing a squash-like "fruit"... It would never work! That one stem couldn't hold up the dozen or so fruit that would be borne by each of those flowers on that "whorl". I can't exactly tell from the photo but it looks to me as though the flowers are of the family "Scrophulariaceae" (the snapdragon family). They seem very much reminiscent of "mimulus" (or "monkey-tongue") which is a member of that family...
HemaShah
@ Jean,how about Cucurbita Maxima? http://www.annadana.com/actu/new_news.cgi?id_news=70
JeanC.Fisher
Doesn't really have "squash-type" flowers, P.Y. -- what variety are you saying it is?

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Flowers of North America
Mission
Nature in Yellow
Mission
Seeds and Seed Pods
Mission
Wild Flowers Of Mt Diablo and surrounding open space
Mission
National Geographic's Great Nature Project

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Photographed
PublishedJune 11, 2011

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