9148.000 Xanthium L. - Cockleburs

Wild, H. (1967) The Compositae of the Flora Zambesiaca area. 1. Heliantheae. Kirkia 6(1) 1-62

Description of the genus

Monoecious annual herbs. Leaves alternate, crenate, deeply toothed or lobed. Capitula unisexual, discoid. Male capitula terminal, spherical, many-flowered; phyllaries few, free; receptacular scales present; corolla 5-dentate. Female capitula axillary, 2-flowered; involucre enclosing and surrounding the 2 flowers, covered with hooked bristles; corolla 0; pappus 0. Achenes obovoid or oblong, enclosed in the persistent hard involucre which bears many hooked spines.Unusual-looking plants, atypical for Asteraceae.

Derivation of name: from Greek: xanthos, meaning yellow, referring to the fruit which turn from green to yellow as they ripen.

Worldwide: c. 3 species, now cosmopolitan

Botswana: 2 taxa.

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Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
spinosum L.Description, Image
strumarium L.N,SEDescription, Image

Other sources of information about Xanthium:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: Xanthium
Flora of Mozambique: Xanthium
Flora of Zambia: Xanthium
Flora of Zimbabwe: Xanthium

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Xanthium
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Xanthium
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Xanthium
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Xanthium
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Xanthium
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Xanthium
JSTOR Plant Science: Xanthium
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Xanthium
Plants of the World Online: Xanthium
Tropicos: Xanthium
Wikipedia: Xanthium

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Botswana: Genus page: Xanthium.
https://www.botswanaflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=1513, retrieved 19 March 2024

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