Howdy, Averil, Your plant is a Bromiliad, possibly Guzmania, 'a variety of Bromeliad,' as Rhizo and TG said. When Bromiliad flowers start to die, babies/off-spring grow off mom. Do you see new sprouts? Off-spring forms nearest moms bottom. :) Babies grow fast, so please check your plant. Sometimes, if babies are left on mom too long, they dry out. Let us know if you see new growth? Toni

Hi! Thank you everyone who had responded to my post. I had finally found out what plant this is. It is a sansevieria cylindrica. It is one of the weirdest plants I've ever seen. I returned to the store and had asked one of the salespeople what this plant was (Which is what I should've done in the first place...). The salesperson was so nice, she even placed an order for some sansevieria to be delivered the following day. Again, thank you for all of the responses. Everyone had brought up names and photos of plants I have always been curious about and have wanted to buy, but have never known what to call them by way of identification. Sincerely, mbluetyphoon

tulsarose & saltcedar are both right - thanks so much I'm glad to be able to do more research on this plant. I was even able to google if I can eat it & when do eat it. The results said yes it is edible and to eat it when they turn reddish orange. Since I have both a veggie garden & flower garden, I debating which one I should plant this funny looking plant. My hubsand thinks I should plant it in my flower garden out from of my house so other people can guess what it is. I may do that, but hope I can find a place for it out there as I already have a lot of plants there. lol

That's some kind of thistle; that isn't a fruit, it's the flower bud. Not familiar with what's in Arkansas, but this one looks sort of similar. WW Here is a link that might be useful: Tall Thistle, Cirsium altissimum