Puncturevine, Goatheads

(Tribulus terrestris L.)

Zygophyllaceae (Caltrop Family)

 

young plants ▲▼

mature plants ▲▼

flowering stems ▲▼

flowers ▲▼

thorny fruit ("goatheads") ▲▼

thorny fruit ("goatheads") ▲▼

Puncturevine, Goatheads: (pp. 556-557 in Weeds of the Great Plains, not in Weeds of the Northeast)

      low-growing, spreading summer annual with pinnately compound leaves and fleshy green, yellow or pinkish-orange stems in the Caltrop (Zygophyllaceae) Family

      produces small yellow flowers in leaf axils, followed by a hard, multi-spined bur

      burs can puncture a bare foot or even a tire

      prefers sunny, dry, sandy soil sites, but will grow in other areas

     can be distinguished from prostrate spurge and spotted spurge by its yellow flowers, burs and lack of milky sap

      prefers sunny, dry, sandy soil sites, but will grow in other areas