Family |
Asteraceae
Xanthium spinosum
L.
Xanthium spinosum L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 987 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, pp. 396–397, Pl. CCXV, 2; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Erect, branched annual, 20–100 cm tall. The rounded stems are hairless or finely hairy and bear strong, three-forked yellow spines, 2–4 cm long, at the leaf bases.
Leaves: Pointed and lanceolate, undivided or with two or three lobes; dark green and hairless above, woolly-grey beneath.
Inflorescence & flowers: Short male flower heads occur at the shoot tips; female heads are usually solitary in the leaf axils.
Fruit: Yellowish, elliptic-oblong burs, eventually hanging downward, deeply grooved and covered with slender, hook-tipped spines; the terminal beaks are very small.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering July–September.
Habitat & elevation: Waste ground.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Beirut, Nahr Beirut, Taalabaya, the AUB farm and Kfertay.
Syrian distribution: Jeble, Damascus, the Damascus–Qneitra road and Rastane.
Native range: Alabama, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Arizona, Bolivia, Brazil South, California, Chile Central, Chile North, Colombia, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Ecuador, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Juan Fernández Is., Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Paraguay, Pennsylvania, Peru, Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Uruguay, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia.
Introduced into: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Baltic States, Belgium, Botswana, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, China North-Central, China Southeast, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Free State, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Gulf States, Hungary, India, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kirgizstan, Korea, Kriti, Krym, KwaZulu-Natal, Lebanon-Syria, Lesotho, Libya, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New South Wales, North Caucasus, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, NW. Balkan Pen., Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Primorye, Queensland, Rodrigues, Romania, Réunion, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Sinai, South Australia, Spain, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Tasmania, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Victoria, West Himalaya, Western Australia, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zimbabwe.