Rough Cocklebur
Xanthium strumarium
Also known as: Cocklebur · porcupine eggs · common cocklebur · Noogoora burr · Large Cocklebur · Borad Cocklebur
Plantae
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Size
- Medium
- Diet
- Photosynthetic
- Biome
- Temperate floodplain
- Range
- North America
- Movement
- Sessile
- Breeding
- Seeds
- Defense
- Spines
- Status
- Common
About
Rough cocklebur is a coarse, weedy annual with large, rough-textured leaves and spiky, hooked burs that cling tenaciously to fur and fabric to spread its seeds. The seedlings and burs are toxic to livestock, making it a notorious pasture weed across much of the world.
Life cycle
- 1.seedA dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
- 2.sproutA first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
- 3.saplingA young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
- 4.matureFully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Phylum
- Tracheophyta
- Class
- Magnoliopsida
- Order
- Asterales
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Genus
- Xanthium
- Species
- Xanthium strumarium