Can you help me identify this weed (Camp Verde: camp, allergy)

[wyoquilter]

I don't have a picture of the thing but I would like to find one to show my kids. They think I'm making it up, but I'm pretty sure I'm not.

I remember when I used to live in Camp Verde, AZ as a kid there were all sorts of nasty weeds. One in particular was no fun to step on.

It was about the size and shape of a wishbone maybe a bit smaller. I remember it had some nasty thorns I believe on both ends and in the middle. I think it may have had some smaller pricklies in between. Just like a goathead the drier they got the harder and more ouchy they were. At first glance they looked almost like a wierd shaped stick laying on the ground. I think the word devil may have been in it's name as in a way the thorny thing also looked like a devil's head just like the thorny things on goatheads look like a goat's head.

I may be dreaming all of this as it's been almost 30 years since I've contended with the nasty things. But the soles of my feet tell me otherwise.

Thanks for any help.

[xwideopenskyx]

Originally Posted by wyoquilter

I don't have a picture of the thing but I would like to find one to show my kids. They think I'm making it up, but I'm pretty sure I'm not.

I remember when I used to live in Camp Verde, AZ as a kid there were all sorts of nasty weeds. One in particular was no fun to step on.

It was about the size and shape of a wishbone maybe a bit smaller. I remember it had some nasty thorns I believe on both ends and in the middle. I think it may have had some smaller pricklies in between. Just like a goathead the drier they got the harder and more ouchy they were. At first glance they looked almost like a wierd shaped stick laying on the ground. I think the word devil may have been in it's name as in a way the thorny thing also looked like a devil's head just like the thorny things on goatheads look like a goat's head.

I may be dreaming all of this as it's been almost 30 years since I've contended with the nasty things. But the soles of my feet tell me otherwise.

Thanks for any help.

From your description it sounds like a Devil's Claw seed pod.
Check out this link for photos and more info:
Devils Claws

[mental_complex]

Indoor!

[wyoquilter]

Originally Posted by xwideopenskyx

From your description it sounds like a Devil's Claw seed pod.
Check out this link for photos and more info:
Devils Claws

That is exactly what it was. Thank-you so much.

One thing I do not miss about AZ is some of the various weeds. I don't know how many times I ran into stinging nettle, or how many times I stepped on goatheads and several of those Devil's Claws.

We lived right along the Verde River and you couldn't get away from any of that stuff. My mom had an allergy to mistletoe and it was in the trees all over down there.

It was nice when we moved to WY and did not have to wear some type of closed shoe all of the time (except in winter) or wear long sleeve shirts and pants when you wanted to go fishing.

We still have a few ouchy weeds here, like thistle, poison oak and poison ivy but they are much easier to get rid of or not as wide spread as the formentioned weeds.