Devil's Claw

The large flowers of this interesting, upright to sprawling plant are over 2 inches long, pink to pale lavender and mottled with purple and yellow. When in bloom, the trumpet-shaped flowers are exotic-looking. The plant is named for its oddly shaped fruit, a fleshy, curved pod tipped by a long beak that splits into two hooks or claws when dry. These "claws" easily become entangled in the fur, tails or hooves of animals which thereby disperse the seeds. Leaves of  Devil's Claw are actually very soft, they almost feel like a homegrown peach covered with little thin hairs. The young seedpods are often picked and eaten like okra.