Proboscidea parviflora var. hohokamiana is considered a weed .. a bad one at that. It's also considered a proto-carnivorous plant though the jury is still out on that .. it's not unusual to see dead insects trapped on the leaves but so far no 'digestive' juices have been found on this plant. It could be considered 'carnivorous' in another way though.

The flower is gorgeous though the scent is really icky .. I can't keep these in the greenhouse when in bloom because they smell so bad! The immature seedpod is edible while still green - it gets about 6 - 8 inches long. Once mature, the green bits fall off and you are left with this very scary looking hard pod. When the pod splits it becomes terrifying! The points are like needles. The individual 'teeth' on the pod are serrated and very, VERY sharp. I can attest to that.

When open, the first set of seeds in the pod falls right out. The second and third sets of seeds hang on to the pod for a long time. One reason it is considered carnivorous is that passing animals will get caught on a pod, which will embed itself into flesh. Large animals like cows can be hurt by these pods. Smaller animals that have a pod attached to them can actually die. When they try to bite it off them, they end up embedding it even further into their flesh and the serrated 'teeth' will lacerate their mouths. Ultimately the animal is either maimed severely or dies of infection or blood loss. That's when the 2nd & 3rd set of seeds fall out of the pod and germinate in the decaying flesh of its victim.