A friend in Worcs. sent me two seed pod heads of a plant he wishes to
identify. The plant grows among crops at a farm near to Evesham. He says
it has a yellow flower a bit like that of a cucumber and it grows to
about 2 ft. tall. The farmer says that it has appeared annually 'since
his father's day' and he thinks it may be a relic from a latterday crop.
The heads are oval rugby ball shaped, about 5cm./2ins. tall x 3cm./1.25
ins. dia. The shell resembles that of a young horse-chestnut, softish
mid-green pith lined flesh, very spiky and in four lateral segments.
Inside the shell are hundreds of tiny 3mm./0.15ins. dia. smartie shaped
seeds similar in colour and texture to that of chestnuts. The heads have
grown on stiff 0.6cm./0.25ins. dia. hollow fibrous stems. Leaf material
on the stems was too deteriorated to provide any detail.

Possibly in the Arctium or Cirsium families? TIA.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 19:11:38 +0000, Alan Gould
wrote:


A friend in Worcs. sent me two seed pod heads of a plant he wishes to
identify. The plant grows among crops at a farm near to Evesham. He says
it has a yellow flower a bit like that of a cucumber and it grows to
about 2 ft. tall. The farmer says that it has appeared annually 'since
his father's day' and he thinks it may be a relic from a latterday crop.
The heads are oval rugby ball shaped, about 5cm./2ins. tall x 3cm./1.25
ins. dia. The shell resembles that of a young horse-chestnut, softish
mid-green pith lined flesh, very spiky and in four lateral segments.
Inside the shell are hundreds of tiny 3mm./0.15ins. dia. smartie shaped
seeds similar in colour and texture to that of chestnuts. The heads have
grown on stiff 0.6cm./0.25ins. dia. hollow fibrous stems. Leaf material
on the stems was too deteriorated to provide any detail.

Possibly in the Arctium or Cirsium families? TIA.

Thorn apple?
Try putting that into Google images.


Pam in Bristol

In article ,
Pam Moore wrote:
On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 19:11:38 +0000, Alan Gould
wrote:

A friend in Worcs. sent me two seed pod heads of a plant he wishes to
identify. The plant grows among crops at a farm near to Evesham. He says
it has a yellow flower a bit like that of a cucumber and it grows to
about 2 ft. tall. The farmer says that it has appeared annually 'since
his father's day' and he thinks it may be a relic from a latterday crop.
The heads are oval rugby ball shaped, about 5cm./2ins. tall x 3cm./1.25
ins. dia. The shell resembles that of a young horse-chestnut, softish
mid-green pith lined flesh, very spiky and in four lateral segments.
Inside the shell are hundreds of tiny 3mm./0.15ins. dia. smartie shaped
seeds similar in colour and texture to that of chestnuts. The heads have
grown on stiff 0.6cm./0.25ins. dia. hollow fibrous stems. Leaf material
on the stems was too deteriorated to provide any detail.

Thorn apple?

That would be my bet. As far as I know, it has never been grown
commercially, not even for rat poison.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Pam Moore wrote:
:: On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 19:11:38 +0000, Alan Gould
:: wrote:
::
:::
::: A friend in Worcs. sent me two seed pod heads of a plant he
::: wishes to identify. The plant grows among crops at a farm near to
::: Evesham. He says it has a yellow flower a bit like that of a
::: cucumber and it grows to about 2 ft. tall. The farmer says that
::: it has appeared annually 'since his father's day' and he thinks
::: it may be a relic from a latterday crop. The heads are oval rugby
::: ball shaped, about 5cm./2ins. tall x 3cm./1.25 ins. dia. The
::: shell resembles that of a young horse-chestnut, softish mid-green
::: pith lined flesh, very spiky and in four lateral segments. Inside
::: the shell are hundreds of tiny 3mm./0.15ins. dia. smartie shaped
::: seeds similar in colour and texture to that of chestnuts. The
::: heads have grown on stiff 0.6cm./0.25ins. dia. hollow fibrous
::: stems. Leaf material on the stems was too deteriorated to provide
::: any detail.
:::
::: Possibly in the Arctium or Cirsium families? TIA.
::
iris pseudacorus var?

I've no idea about latin names or anything like that but they sound exactly
like the fruit of Iris ...is the feild waterlogged in places?
I noticed a few weeks ago while fishing that these 'bananas' split open and
drop their seeds into the water at about this time of year..the closest
picture I could find to the one's i'm thinking of, is he
http://www.pondplants.co.uk/images/p...acorus_var.jpg
and
http://www.sugarcreekgardens.com/IrisPseVariegata.jpg

Phil L wrote:
:: Pam Moore wrote:
:::: On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 19:11:38 +0000, Alan Gould
:::: wrote:
::::
:::::
::::: A friend in Worcs. sent me two seed pod heads of a plant he
::::: wishes to identify. The plant grows among crops at a farm near
::::: to Evesham. He says it has a yellow flower a bit like that of a
::::: cucumber and it grows to about 2 ft. tall. The farmer says that
::::: it has appeared annually 'since his father's day' and he thinks
::::: it may be a relic from a latterday crop. The heads are oval
::::: rugby ball shaped, about 5cm./2ins. tall x 3cm./1.25 ins. dia.
::::: The shell resembles that of a young horse-chestnut, softish
::::: mid-green pith lined flesh, very spiky and in four lateral
::::: segments. Inside the shell are hundreds of tiny 3mm./0.15ins.
::::: dia. smartie shaped seeds similar in colour and texture to that
::::: of chestnuts. The heads have grown on stiff 0.6cm./0.25ins.
::::: dia. hollow fibrous stems. Leaf material on the stems was too
::::: deteriorated to provide any detail.
:::::
::::: Possibly in the Arctium or Cirsium families? TIA.
::::
:: iris pseudacorus var?
::
:: I've no idea about latin names or anything like that but they
:: sound exactly like the fruit of Iris ...is the feild waterlogged
:: in places?
:: I noticed a few weeks ago while fishing that these 'bananas' split
:: open and drop their seeds into the water at about this time of
:: year..the closest picture I could find to the one's i'm thinking
:: of, is he
::
http://www.pondplants.co.uk/images/p...acorus_var.jpg
:: and
:: http://www.sugarcreekgardens.com/IrisPseVariegata.jpg

The seed pods are like this:

http://www.waldhang.de/bilder/0109053.jpg

In article , Pam Moore
writes
On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 19:11:38 +0000, Alan Gould
wrote:


A friend in Worcs. sent me two seed pod heads of a plant he wishes to
identify. The plant grows among crops at a farm near to Evesham. He says
it has a yellow flower a bit like that of a cucumber and it grows to
about 2 ft. tall. The farmer says that it has appeared annually 'since
his father's day' and he thinks it may be a relic from a latterday crop.
The heads are oval rugby ball shaped, about 5cm./2ins. tall x 3cm./1.25
ins. dia. The shell resembles that of a young horse-chestnut, softish
mid-green pith lined flesh, very spiky and in four lateral segments.
Inside the shell are hundreds of tiny 3mm./0.15ins. dia. smartie shaped
seeds similar in colour and texture to that of chestnuts. The heads have
grown on stiff 0.6cm./0.25ins. dia. hollow fibrous stems. Leaf material
on the stems was too deteriorated to provide any detail.

Possibly in the Arctium or Cirsium families? TIA.

Thorn apple?
Try putting that into Google images.

Thanks Pam - Thorn Apple, or Datura stramonium seems to be the most
likely answer. Most of the examples shown have white or bluish white
flowers but Sanders Enc. refers to a yellow flowered Thorn Apple -
Datura chlorantha, so that may be the variety in question.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

In article , Phil L
writes

I've no idea about latin names or anything like that but they sound exactly
like the fruit of Iris ...is the feild waterlogged in places?
I noticed a few weeks ago while fishing that these 'bananas' split open and
drop their seeds into the water at about this time of year..the closest
picture I could find to the one's i'm thinking of, is he
http://www.pondplants.co.uk/images/p...acorus_var.jpg
and
http://www.sugarcreekgardens.com/IrisPseVariegata.jpg

Thanks for the help Phil. The plant seems to be Thorn Apple.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

In article , Nick Maclaren
writes

Thorn apple?

That would be my bet. As far as I know, it has never been grown
commercially, not even for rat poison.

VERY poisonous indeed! One site suggests that the leaves can be added to
tobacco for smoking as a relief for asthma. A dead certain cure I'd say!
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.