(Martynia Althaefolia) Pods
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1885
label: Collection Date
content: 1885
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Edward Palmer
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Split for ornamenting baskets." See also NMNH Department of Botany Edward Palmer collections web exhibit page on this artifact: http://botany.si.edu/colls/palmer/narrative_page.cfm?Narr=10&locality= . Identified there as botanical specimen Proboscidea althaeifolia (Benth.) Decne. (Martynia Althaefolia), called Devil's Claw. It is noted on the web page: "The earliest documentation of Devil's Claw use in basketry among the Akimel O'odham dates back to 1825 (Nabhan & Rea, 1987:59-60). Edward Palmer recorded the Akimel O'odham weaving baskets of Devil's Claw and willow "for many purposes," (including trade) in 1885. The weaving material comes from the devil's claw fruit, a bean-like pod (technically a drupaceous capsule) that develops claw-like horns (called rostra) and a leathery husk as it grows. Later in the season, the green leathery husk peels off, exposing a distinctive black woody fruit (Rea, A.M., 1997:241-242). The dry pods must be soaked and then split from their points downward (Nabhan & Rea, 1987:58). The splints are buried in wet earth to keep them pliable while the basket maker works (Curtin, 1984). In a finished basket, the fiber/material reflects light and is therefore easy to distinguish from other types of dark fibers."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 30 Jul 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Arizona, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Pima (Akimel O'odham; Akimel O'otham)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 015930
label: USNM Number
content: E76043-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Botanical