Bed of nails

Description:

These plants vary from partly to very spiny. The purple thorns occur on the leaf veins, petioles, leaf mid ribs, lateral veins and stems, as well as the top and lower leaf surfaces. The foliage is impressive and can be 18 inches long and up to 10 to 12 inches wide. As a member of the nightshade family, the flowers look like those of other family members - the peppers, tomatoes. The 1 1/2-inch fragrant flowers are white with five prominent yellow stamens and appear in clusters. Later, bright orange, golf ball-sized fruits are formed and are covered with brown, fuzzy hair until the fruit ripens. The fruit has a flavor like pineapple and lemon. Half-colored fruit will remain good for eight days at room temperature, or they can be stored at 45-50 degrees for one to two months. The fruits, minus the fuzzy hair, can be squeezed for juice, its most popular use. And it is also used in pies, ice cream and preserves. (info from Tulsa World newspaper article: http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article....)

Habitat:

This spotting took place at Tulsa Zoo & Living Museum, so it's a decorative plant on-grounds.

Notes:

Interestingly, the newspaper article I referenced in the Notes section was written by a man who used to work in the horticulture department at Tulsa Zoo. :-)