[Illustration: Martynia arenaria]
Common names: DEVILSCLAW, UNICORNPLANT, ELEPHANT-TUSKS
Arizona desert: (_Martynia parviflora_). Orange-purple. April-October.
California desert: (_Martynia altheaefolia_). Coppery yellow.
July-September.
Texas desert: (_Martynia arenaria_). Coppery yellow. July-September.
Martynia family. Size: Trailing, with stems 2 to 5 feet long.
The showy flowers, which are large enough to attract attention, are
relatively few. Even more spectacular are the large, black, woody pods
ending in two curved, prong-like appendages that hook about the fetlocks
of burros or the fleece of sheep, thereby carrying the pod away from the
mother plant and scattering the seeds. Young pods are sometimes eaten by
desert Indians as a vegetable, and the mature fruits are gathered by the
Pima and Papago Indians, who strip off the black outer covering and use
it in weaving designs into basketry.
Blossoms of the small-flowered species are reddish purple to white
streaked with orange and yellow, while the large-flowered species have
coppery yellow blossoms, the throat spotted with purple and the edge of
the cup streaked with orange.