This was the favorite food of the Carolina Parakeet. They would consume great quantities of the seeds. There beeks were specially desig...Read Morened to tear through the spiny seed pods. As the native parrot declined and eventually became extinct, the number of cockleburs swifttly climbed. Now the Eastern US has no parrots but plenty of these pesky plants.
A nice looking plant when green, looking like a short squat sunflower bush without the nice flowers. Very hardy and can grow in a wide r...Read Moreange of conditions. Supposedly, each seed pod has two seeds, one of which will sprout the first year and one the second year. Be careful not to let this plant get away from you; I would pull it and harvest or eliminate it before the seed pods get too dry; when dry they break off easily and you might wind up with these tough spiney seed pods everywhere in your lawn, on your dog, on your kids, on your clothes, and eventually inside your house and peircing your family's skin. The seed pods are known to contain a toxin used as a chinese medicine, most of which is contained in the thorns. Removing the thorns by burning or grinding apparently gets rid of most of the toxin. Consuming large quantities of the seed pods over time has been known to cause liver damage. When burned, the smoke from the seed pod thorns gives off a pleasant, somewhat attractive smoke, it reminds me of a flavored cheap cigar. The smoke from the thorns doesn't last long and the smoke from burning the regular seed pods and branches does not have quite the same attraction, at least to me. Overall I would not consider this a very useful plant, and if not strictly controlled, it can (and will) be quite a problem.
A common weed of barnyards and cultivated fields. It is considered invasive in many states.
The stickery seed pods will at...Read Moretach themselves to animal fur or clothing and get a free ride to where they will sprout and grow with abandon.
The plants can get quite large and produce many spiney seed pods....they are considered quite dangerous if livestock ingest them.
This was the favorite food of the Carolina Parakeet. They would consume great quantities of the seeds. There beeks were specially desig...Read More
A nice looking plant when green, looking like a short squat sunflower bush without the nice flowers. Very hardy and can grow in a wide r...Read More
A common weed of barnyards and cultivated fields. It is considered invasive in many states.
The stickery seed pods will at...Read More
Arkansas has this plant listed as a noxious weed in the plant.usda.gov site.
This plant is considered a noxious weed in IA and considered invasive in many other states.