Xanthium spinosumL.

Spiny clotburSpiny cockelburSpiny cockleburrspiny burrweedspiny clotburspiny clotburrspiny cockleburspiny cockleburr

WFO wfo-0000032434 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Xanthium spinosum, photographed by Karim Haddad
fig. a Karim Haddad, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-01 / obs. 203532936
Xanthium spinosum, photographed by Вячеслав Юсупов
fig. b Вячеслав Юсупов, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195896905
Xanthium spinosum, photographed by Cesar Ormazabal
fig. c Cesar Ormazabal, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195190071
Xanthium spinosum, photographed by Dylan Wishart
fig. d Dylan Wishart, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 191045942
Xanthium spinosum, photographed by Quentin Groom
fig. e Quentin Groom, CC0 1.0 / obs. 182579494
Xanthium spinosum, photographed by Bahiano Ayala
fig. f Bahiano Ayala, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 188739521
Xanthium spinosum, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. g Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 178920059
Xanthium spinosum, photographed by María Zeta
fig. h María Zeta, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 177803839

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 59 botanical countries

Regions where Xanthium spinosum is native: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Bolivia, Brazil South, Chile Central, Chile North, Colombia, Ecuador, Juan Fernández Is., Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay AlabamaArizonaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyMaineMarylandMassachusettsMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SouthwestMichiganMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaOhioOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaQuébecSaskatchewanSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasUtahVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestArgentina SouthBoliviaBrazil SouthChile CentralChile NorthColombiaEcuadorParaguayPeruUruguay DelawareRhode I.
Native distribution of Xanthium spinosum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southwest MXS
Michigan MIC
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Saskatchewan SAS
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Argentina South AGS
Bolivia BOL
Brazil South BZS
Chile Central CLC
Chile North CLN
Colombia CLM
Ecuador ECU
Juan Fernández Is. JNF
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Uruguay URU

Not drawn on the map: Juan Fernández Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 20 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Acanthoxanthium ambrosioides (Hook. & Arn.) D.Löve
  • Acanthoxanthium spinosum (L.) Fourr.
  • Acanthoxanthium spinosum subsp. catharticum (Kunth) D.Löve
  • Acanthoxanthium spinosum subsp. spinosum
  • Xanthium ambrosioides Hook. & Arn.
  • Xanthium armatum Humb. & Bonpl. ex Wallr.
  • Xanthium canescens Widder
  • Xanthium medium Nossotovsky
  • Xanthium multifidum Larrañaga
  • Xanthium spinosum f. laciniatum Scheuerm. & Thell. ex Widder
  • Xanthium spinosum f. praecocius Bitter ex Widder
  • Xanthium spinosum f. spinosum
  • Xanthium spinosum var. ambrosioides (Hook. & Arn.) Love & Dans.
  • Xanthium spinosum var. brachyacanthum DC.
  • Xanthium spinosum var. canescens Costa
  • Xanthium spinosum var. heterocephalum Widder
  • Xanthium spinosum var. inerme Bel
  • Xanthium spinosum var. spinosum
  • Xanthium spinosum var. synacanthum Widder
  • Xanthium xanthocarpon Wallr.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.