Spiny Cocklebur is an annual herb producing a
slender stem up to a meter tall or slightly taller. It is lined at
intervals with very long, sharp, yellowish spines which may exceed 3 cm
in length and may divide into two or three separate spines. The leaves
are divided into linear or lance-shaped lobes, the middle much longer
than the others, and are arranged alternately all along the stem. Each
is up to 10 or 12 cm long and dark green or grayish on top with a white
underside. The plant produces male and female flower heads, the female
heads developing into burs one or 1.5 centimeters long and covered in
thin spines. The spiny burs are easily dispersed to new areas when they
become attached to animals, people, and objects, or float on water. Its
original native range is not known but it may have come from South
America, possibly from Chile.
Identification credit: Gurcharan Singh
Photographed in Kashmir.
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The flower labeled Spiny Cocklebur is ...