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Puncture vine
Antonio W. Salas, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist

All other plant families

Puncture vine

Tribulus terrestris L.

LC Least Concern

Names

EnglishPuncture vine
DutchMaltezer kruis
SpanishAbrojo
Chinese蒺藜
Scientific nameTribulus terrestris L.

About this species

Tribulus terrestris is an annual plant in the caltrop family (Zygophyllaceae) widely distributed around the world. It is adapted to thrive in dry climate locations in which few other plants can survive, and is a highly invasive species.

Native to warm temperate and tropical regions in southern Eurasia and Africa, it has been unintentionally introduced to North America and Australia. T. terrestris is widely known as a noxious weed because of its small woody fruit – the bur – having long sharp and strong spines which easily penetrate surfaces, such as bare feet or thin shoes of crop workers and other pedestrians, the rubber of bicycle tires, and the mouths and skin of grazing animals.

Read more on Wikipedia · Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Classification

KingdomPlantae
PhylumTracheophyta
ClassMagnoliopsida
OrderZygophyllales
FamilyZygophyllaceae
GenusTribulus

Related species in Suriname