| Unicorn-Plant is endemic to the Mississippi Valley that gave it a name. That is not to say it's not well established in the Escambia region as well as the east and semi-tropical south. It first appeared at a few locations along the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge and New Orleans. While no one attempted to identify its original source there is speculation that it immigrated to North America as an unwitting passenger on a trading ship. Since its discovery around turn of the century it has gone through several cycles of cultivation in other parts of the country to adapt it to a domestic environment. Progress has been slow, but as a wilderness plant it is making headway in fields, swamps, on stream banks and occasionally at roadside. |
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| The fruit capsule resembles a vastly mutated pod of okra with a single unicorn-like horn at the end. The pod is edible and may be pickled like okra or cucumber. As the fruit dries; however, it becomes brown, hard, brittle and splits open. The long tail forms two hooks that tangle in the fur, ears and nostrils of animals. Once the pod had dried and split there was a rush to rename the plant "Devil's Claw." |
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| Flowers of Unicorn-Plant are pink, white or purple; bell-shaped, with a large lower lip. While the flowers are of various color, all will have a golden throat bearing dark dots. Filaments are a brilliant gold. Leaves are heart-shaped and viscose. Lower leaves are larger than the upper leaves. Stems are brittle and downy. Plants are considered to be upright but since it's extremely top-heavy there is a tendency to bend toward the ground; those branches touching soil supporting the weight of the entire plant. |