Unknown and unusual

Last summer I spotted this plant in a garden in Cascais, Portugal.

I don't know what it is.

It was about three feet/1 metre tall.
The seed heads, if that is what they are, were about 2 inches / 5 cm across and looked like hollow gooseberries.

Can anybody tell me the name of this plant?

(added 09:46 Saturday 24 Feb. ... from Google ... and another attempt at 17:09) ;-)
Pode qualquer um dizer-me o nome da flor?
Est-ce que n'importe qui peut m'indiquer le nom de cette fleur ?
¿Puede cualquier persona decirme el nombre de esta flor?

please visit my vfxy

.

comments (9)

Kedar Sule
India
24 Feb 2007, 05:03

Ellie, I have never seen this plant before. The fruits/seeds look like lemons with hair

EJWilkins: Very hairy lemons too!

Roland
24 Feb 2007, 08:09

Hummm ! Wo feel spring comming.. And that's really good !

Mary MacADNski
Prince Edward Island, Canada
24 Feb 2007, 08:49

I'm thinking that this is where tennis balls come from. We don't have this plant in PEI.

Martin
24 Feb 2007, 16:49

I can't add any useful information here, but I always enjoy automatic translations if I know enough about both languages to appreciate how had they are.

EJWilkins:

The trick with finding out how awful online translations are is to translate back into the first language, there are some absolute howlers. Trouble is, it's not much use if, like me, you have a limited knowledge of the second language. My Welsh isn't much use on here, and I've forgotten most of the French I learned!

julischka
24 Feb 2007, 16:54

That's an interesting plant but I have never seen it before. These "balls" look like they were filled with air.

EJWilkins: They do, don't they? It's a most unusual plant, and one I've never seen before.

Ginnie
Atlanta, GA, United States
24 Feb 2007, 21:22

I don't have a clue either, Ellie, but they actually look edible, don't they (after you scrape off the fuzz). I'm sure you'll let us know once you find out.

Are you back home now????

Jos�-Angel
Sant Feliu de Llobregat (Barcelona)
25 Feb 2007, 01:45

Ellie is really a very rare fruit. I do not have nor the smaller idea of which it can be. But if you are able to find out it, you do not forget you to tell it to us.

[G]

Zebigleb
25 Feb 2007, 12:21

Well Ellie, reading the previous comments, I know now you were on another planet

In fact I prefer the idea of a Tennis Ballum phosphoricus wich is very rare...

Ray
Thailand
6 Mar 2007, 12:02

Hi Ellie. This is the fruit [immature seedpod] of the kapok shrub. When the pods mature, they burst open and out come the seeds with streamers of kapok that catch the wind and distribute the seeds.

Kapok used to be harvested and used to stuff pillows.

Incidently, the leaves of this shrub are the favoured food of the caterpillar that eventually morphs into the fabulous, long-distance migrating monarch butterfly.

Nice picture of the shrub and especially the pods.

Leave a comment must fill in
[stop comment form]
name
email
your blog
location
show		everyone photographer only
comments		for this photo I'm in a ShMood^©
		notify me by email of new comments

camera	DiMAGE Z5
exposure mode
shutterspeed	1/200s
aperture	f/6.3
sensitivity	ISO50
focal length	7.7mm

E.J.Wilkins