I’ve seen balloon plants (Gomphocarpus physocarpus) in local pastures before, but not up close like this. The balloons are the fruit of the plants. The long hairy spines become stiffer and spiky-looking when the balloons inflate prior to releasing their seeds.
Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Spiky.’ See more responses here.
Graham's Island 
An intriguing plant. Poisonous? Oh toxic – just saw the comment above.
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Are they edible?
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According to Wikipedia, ‘The leaves and stems produce milky latex that is toxic.’ But the plants does have medicinal uses.
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Interesting 🙂
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oh my how extraordinary – never heard of these as I think the balloon plants we have in our herbaceous borders are quite different!
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Yes, I think there’s a few different balloon plants. This one has little white flowers.
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A cactus of some kind? Magnificent, Graham!
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A species of milkweed with some medicinal properties I believe.
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