''Cenchrus spinifex'', known commonly as the common sandbur, coastal sandbur, or stickerweed, is a perennial

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in law ...

that grows from high in sandy or gravelly terrain. It is native to the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

southward into

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

and the Caribbean. It has been introduced elsewhere in the United States and in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. It is a

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or liv ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. The grass produces a bur, a type of grain fruit, consisting of eight to forty sharp, barbed spines that lodge in clothes, exposed feet, and fur.''Cenchrus spinifex''.
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. 2008.

Gallery

File:Example of Epizoochory var. Anthropochory - Cenchrus spinifex burs on boot and trouser leg.jpg,

Epizoochory In Spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors, ...

: spiny burs of ''C. spinifex'' clinging to clothing on a beach in

Vieste Vieste (; nap, label= Viestano, Vìst) is a town, ''comune'' and former Catholic bishopric in the province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. A marine resort in Gargano, Vieste has received Blue Flags for the purity of its wat ...

, Italy

References

External links

spinifex Grasses of North America Flora of the Caribbean Grasses of Canada Grasses of Mexico Grasses of the United States Grasses of Alabama Flora without expected TNC conservation status Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles {{Panicoideae-stub