There are two kinds of plants that will be shown in this post.
One of them is a plant like the one you can see in the picture above: a cylindrical stem which is surrounded on top and covered by tight seeds, still green and not yet ripe. It looks like that, because this plant has passed the vegetative phase and is now in the generative or productive phase. Underground, there is a white tuber with a pink or purple tinge, and as it is said, it is edible.
Before the seeds appear, the flowers grow on a cob which is protected by a sheath of flowers. And the flowers themselves appear after passing through a vegetative phase which is marked by the withering of the leaves and stalks.
It was seen when I was at the location where I was taking pictures.
So, what appears to be a strange plant that has nothing on the ground other than a cylindrical stem and seeds that resemble sticks driven into the ground, this is actually native to Southeast Asia, and is found frequently in various places here, and in Sumatra, in general. It has the scientific name as Amorphophallus paeoniifolius. But I didn't record if the plant tuber was ever consumed in our society.
One other plant, is a plant that is actually familiar and is often found in our place, as well as the seeds which are often seen and used. What may rarely be known, however, is that it is this plant that produces these gray, tough seeds.
This plant is commonly found near the coast, as I have found this, but also in hilly areas and river banks along with other undergrowth. It is a liana that grows irregularly, and if it is in front of our path, it can be a natural barrier which is difficult to break through especially because of the spikes.
The fruit is green before it is ripe, and it is hard to predict that it will contain a hard but buoyant gray oval seed called Nickernut. That's Guilandina bonduc (gray nicker).
The place where I took pictures of Guilandina bonduc, in northwestern Aceh, Sumatra.