Rick--pictures can be deceiving, i.e. that drying stem, the more dense fiber becomes prominant while the less dense areas dry out and shrink inward, sometimes assuming an oval form in the end. Something I see occasionally, but it's a little more enhanced than reality in the photo. Not my intent to show fasciation, but rather a technique I sometimes use to mature seeds inside when conditions become unacceptable outside. Do you use this method sometimes?
All those seed pods pointing skyward, further give it that fasciated appearance, but you and I see skyward pods all the time.
