Puncture vine

Description:

Native to southern Europe, it can grow under a wide range of conditions, but its success is likely due to its ability to thrive in hot and dry conditions where other plants cannot. It can be a major problem in orchards, pastures, turf, and along roadsides and ditch banks. Although it is known to be toxic to sheep, its main weedy characteristic, as indicated by its common names of puncturevine or caltrop, is its spiky seedpods. (A caltrop is a metal device, used to deter passage by vehicles with pneumatic tires or the hooves of horses; it has four projecting spikes so arranged that when three of the spikes are on the ground, the fourth points upward to poke a tire or hoof.) The seeds of puncturevine are enclosed in a hard caltrop-like case that can injure livestock, people, and pets when stepped on and can even puncture bicycle tires. Another common name is "goathead."

Habitat:

Vineyards, orchards, crop fields, roadsides, railways, walkways, and other disturbed areas. Often found in areas with high soil compaction.

Notes:

Momo Tsuyuki, pd.7 found at back tennis court