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Cockleburs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Larry W. Mitich
Larry W. Mitich*
Affiliation:
Dep. Bot., Univ. Calif., Davis, CA 95616
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Extract

Although the word “xanthium” may conjure up visions of the exotic Far East, it is the generic name of spiny cocklebur (Xanthium spinosum L. #3 XANSP) and common cocklebur (X. strumarium L. # XANST). A familiar weed of fields and roadsides, cocklebur may have originated in the Mediterranean region and has plagued farmers and shepherds since Biblical times. Common cocklebur was considered a beneficient herb in ancient times. Its roots, seeds, and leaves were used as a diuretic and as a tonic to purify the blood. North American Indians used the leaves of spiny cocklebur to counteract hydrophobia.

Type
Intriguing World of Weeds
Information
Weed Technology , Volume 1 , Issue 4 , October 1987 , pp. 359 - 360
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 by the Weed Science Society of America 

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References

1 No. 19 of the series, “Intriguing World of Weeds.” Contributions are welcome and will be acknowledged. Send contributions to Larry W. Mitich. Google Scholar

3 Letters following this symbol are a WSSA-approved computer code from Composite List of Weeds, Weed Sci., 32, Suppl. 2. Available from WSSA, 309 West Clark Street, Champaign, IL 61820. Google Scholar