Puncturevine

Puncturevine, Goatheads

(Tribulus terrestris L.)

Zygophyllaceae (Caltrop Family)

young plants ▲ ▼

mature plants ▲ ▼

flowering stems ▲ ▼

flowers ▲ ▼

thorny fruit ("goatheads") ▲ ▼

Puncturevine, Goatheads: (pp. 556-557, 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