The intriguingly fascinating Indian shot !

The very intriguingly fascinating seed pods of the Canna indica (The small red coloured flowering variety), that's growing wild in my backyard.
These seed pods fascinated me as a kid, and I would spend ages observing their intriguing beauty. An absolute study in aesthetics, these seed pods fascinate in all their stages. Right from their young fresh cross-between-chartreuse-and-viridian-green avatar... to the time they begin their drying process and their, now translucent raw umber skins/covers are slowly opening up to reveal the perfectly round black-as-night “shots”, or seeds as would normally call them... to the stage where they have completely dried up and all that's left of the cover is a lovely burnt umber coloured mesh, with the now rich black-with-a-matte-finish shots ready to pop out and away...

How could one not be fascinated by these wonders of nature ? Interestingly, this particular variety of small delicate red cannas are nowhere as attractive as their larger more colourful and more showy counterparts. But, there's something about the elegantly simple beauty of this Canna that appeals to me and I am in no way attracted to the larger brighter coloured ones...

And here are some very interesting facts about the Canna indica, especially the seeds.

Canna indica, also known as saka siri, Indian shot, canna, achira, bandera, chancle, coyol, or platanillo, Marathi: kardaL, Sanskrit: vankelii, sarvajayaa is a species of the Canna genus, belonging to the family Cannaceae, a native of the southeastern United States. It is now naturalised all over India and in many other parts of the world. Canna indica is a perennial growing to between 0.5 m and 2.5 m, depending on the variety. It is easy to grow and hardy. The flowers are hermaphrodite. Canna indica sps. can be used for the treatment of industrial waste waters through constructed wetlands. It is effective for the removal of high organic load, colour and chlorinated organic compounds from paper mill waste water.

The seeds are widely used for jewellery. The seeds are also used as the mobile elements of the kayamb, a musical instrument from Réunion, as well as the hosho, a gourd rattle from Zimbabwe, where the seeds are known as "hota" seeds. It is such an incredible feeling to find such interesting information about the plants that fascinated (And still do) me in my childhood.  

Note: Information and pictures of the shotgun, shots in wood and the seed jewellery are sourced from the internet

The pretty looking fresh seed pod

 And there they are, the very intriguingly fascinating seed pods

 The BB (Blunderbuss)-like seeds of Indian shot (Canna indica) and an 18th century blunderbuss. It is possible that seeds of Indian shot were used in flintlocks such as this when lead pellets were scarce or unavailable.

 The deep impressions and gaping hole in this quarter inch plywood were made by seeds of Indian shot (Canna indica) placed in a 12 gauge shotgun shell and fired from a distance of 10 feet (3 m). Four seeds recovered from the shotgun blast (right) were still intact.

 The round seeds of the Indian shot, commonly used in jewellery along with other interestingly shaped and coloured seeds.