Xanthium spinosum

Scientific Name Xanthium spinosum L. Family Asteraceae (Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory) Compositae (South Australia) Common Names Bathurst burr, burrweed, burweed, cat's eggs, clotbur, cocklebur, common cockleburr, dagger, dagger cocklebur, dagger weed, daggerweed, prickly burrweed, Spanish thistle, spiny burweed, spiny clotbur, spiny cocklebur, spiny cockleburr, spring clotbur, thorny burweed Origin Native to some parts of South America. Naturalised Distribution This species is very widely naturalised in Australia, particularly in the eastern half of the country. It is most common in New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland, Victoria and south-eastern South Australia, but is also scattered in the southern parts of the Northern Territory, in other parts of South Australia and in the southern and southwestern parts of Western Australia. It is also occasionally naturalised in Tasmania. Bathurst burr (Xanthium spinosum) is also widely naturalised in other parts of the world, including Europe, the Azores, Africa, temperate Asia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, North America (i.e. the USA and Canada) and some parts of South America. Habitat A weed of pastures, crops, waterways, grasslands, open woodlands, floodplains, waste areas, roadsides and disturbed sites in temperate, semi-arid, sub-tropical and sometimes also tropical and arid environments. Habit An upright (i.e. erect) and much-branched short-lived (i.e. annual) herbaceous plant usually growing 30-100 cm tall, but occasionally reaching up to 1.2 m in height. Distinguishing Features an upright and much-branched herbaceous plant usually growing 30-100 cm tall.