One of my favorite jobs as a farmhand was driving the three-wheeler around collecting bundles of oddly-shaped seed pods. The seed pods had two extended hooks that would easily become tangled in almost anything that came across them. It was my job to compile these hooked pods and set fire to them so that when the tractor made its rounds it wouldn't get clogged with these pesky plants.
The devil's claw is a common name used for the plant Proboscidea. The specific variety that grows in southwest Kansas is known as Proboscidea Louisianica. It is also called the unicorn plant, though you won't hear many folks call it that anymore. The plant is known to survive in arid climates and different variations of it can be found around the globe. There is little use in our culture for these interesting natural items, though in other places the pods are steamed for food and said to taste like okra. Some people even burn the devil's claw as they would sage to smudge a home.
I am drawn to this plant because it reminds me of home and is a sort of physical metaphor for the way I live my life. The two prongs on the plant's seed pod are purposed for seed dispersal. They protrude from the dirt and get caught in animal's fur, or the heel of a human's boot in order to be carried to other locations where, when germinated, the new growth won't be competing with each other. I hang this plant on the rear-view mirror of my truck, because it reminds me that I, like the devil's claw, am not guaranteed to take root in one place. I'm at a time in my life when my feelers are out for whatever can pick me up and take me elsewhere.
I might be stationed in one stage of life, or one geographical area even for quite some time but, like the devil's claw, I am hardy and can stand to wait a while for just a little rain. I am bound to travel, and anywhere I go I have this obscure seed pod to remind me that I am tied to the land I came from; whether I like it or not my roots are in southwest Kansas. It reminds me to have an appreciation for my homeland, and is comforting in times when I feel homesick. After all, like the devil's claw, I was never mean to stay in one place, but to end up somewhere else. If you're ever in my neck of the woods, you might like to go searching for these uniquely resilient tokens to serve as a memento of the Kansas's under appreciated flatlands. It's important to keep things that remind you of home close to you if you're a person who, like the devil's claw, is destined to move on from where you've started.
