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Xanthium strumarium
Also called Canada cockleburr, Cockle bur, Rough cockleburr, Spiny cockleburr, Cocklebur, Kikania, Canada Cocklebur
Rough cocklebur is a spiny annual weed in the daisy family, native to the Americas and naturalized across Eurasia and elsewhere. It is grown mainly as a weed or in traditional medicine rather than as an ornamental.
Xanthium strumarium (rough cocklebur, Noogoora burr, clotbur, common cocklebur, large cocklebur, woolgarie bur, Siberian cocklebur) is a species of annual plants in the flowering plant family Asteraceae. Some sources claim it originates in southern Europe and Asia, but has been extensively naturalized elsewhere. Others, such as the Flora of China and Flora of North America, state it originates in the Americas but was an early introduction to Eurasia.
The plant may have some medicinal properties and has been used in traditional medicine in South Asia and traditional Chinese medicine. In Telugu, this plant is called Marula Matangi.
However, while small quantities of parts of the mature plants may be consumed, the seeds and seedlings should not be eaten in large quantities because they contain significant concentrations of the extremely toxic chemical carboxyatractyloside. The mature plant also contains at least four other toxins.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Xanthium strumarium by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
