Martynia lousiana
“Devil’s Claw”

This unusual plant is mostly known for it’s odd, prong-shaped seed pods that someone has named “Devil’s Claw.” Martynia is a very pretty and useful plant native to the southwest and midwest United States. It has large pink flowers that remind me of Impatiens’ flowers. It will bloom from summer through fall. The foliage resembles the leaves of a squash plant and the immature fruits can be parboiled and eaten as a vegetable. The seeds can be eaten raw or cooked and are high in protein and oil is extracted from them as well. A black dye is obtained from the seed pods. This plant was important to Native Americans and the seed pods were used in basketry. Wow, very useful! Martynia gets to be about 3’ tall and prefers a warm spot. Drought tolerant and self-sows.

Kelly Kilpatrick
Propagator