Xanthium

Xanthium (cocklebur) is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower tribe within the daisy family, native to the Americas and eastern Asia and some parts of south Asia .[4][1][3]

Cocklebur
Xanthium strumarium
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Asterids
Order:
Asterales
Family:
Asteraceae
Tribe:
Heliantheae[1]
Genus:
Xanthium

Type species
Xanthium strumarium[2][3]
Synonyms[1]
  • Xanthium sect. Euxanthium DC.
  • Acanthoxanthium (DC.) Fourr.
  • Xanthium sect. Acanthoxanthium DC.

Description

Cockleburs are coarse, herbaceous annual plants growing to 20–47 inches (51–119 cm) tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, with deeply toothed margins. Some species, notably Xanthium spinosum, are also very thorny with long, slender spines at the leaf bases.[5]

The flower heads are of two types; One, in short terminal branches, produces only pollen. The other, in clusters in the axils of the leaves, produces seed.[5]

Unlike many other members of the family Asteraceae, whose seeds are airborne with a plume of silky hairs resembling miniature parachutes, cocklebur seeds are produced in a hard, spiny, globose or oval double-chambered, single-seeded bur 0.32–0.79 inches (0.81–2.01 cm) long. It is covered with stiff, hooked spines, which stick to fur and clothing and can be quite difficult to detach. These burs are carried long distances from the parent plant during seed dispersal by help of animals (zoochorous).[6]

Biology

Cockleburs are short-day plants, meaning they only initiate flowering when the days are getting shorter in the late summer and fall, typically from July to October in the Northern Hemisphere. They can also flower in the tropics where the daylength is constant.

Diversity

Over 200 names have been proposed for species, subspecies, and varieties within the genus. Most of these are regarded as synonyms of highly variable species. Some recognize as few as two or three species in the genus. The Global Compositae Checklist recognizes the following

Accepted Species[1]
formerly included[1]

see Ambrosia

The cocklebur is legally listed as a noxious weed in the states of Arkansas and Iowa in the United States of America.

Toxicity and uses

The common cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium) is a native of North America. It has become an invasive species worldwide. It invades agricultural lands and can be poisonous to livestock, including horses, cattle, and sheep. Some domestic animals will avoid consuming the plant if other forage is present, but less discriminating animals, such as pigs, will consume the plants and then sicken and die. The seedlings and seeds are the most toxic parts of the plants. Symptoms usually occur within a few hours, producing unsteadiness and weakness, depression, nausea and vomiting, twisting of the neck muscles, rapid and weak pulse, difficulty breathing, and eventually death.

The plant also has been used for making yellow dye, hence the name of the genus (Greek xanthos = 'yellow'). The many species of this plant, which can be found in many areas, may actually be varieties of two or three species. The seed oil is edible.

Xanthium strumarium is known as cang er zi (苍耳子) in traditional Chinese medicine. Xanthium is also used to treat nasal and sinus congestion.[7]

The spines and seeds of this fruit are rich in a chemical called carboxyatractyloside (CAT), formerly referred to as xanthostrumarin, which is the chemical that is responsible for most of the adverse effects from the use of cang er zi. CAT has been shown to be a growth inhibitor in Xanthium and other plants, serving two functions, delaying seed germination and inhibiting the growth of other plants. Most of the chemical is concentrated in the spines. When the bur is prepared as an herbal remedy, the spines are usually removed, reducing the CAT content of the finished product.[8]

Velcro

The Cocklebur was the inspiration for a Swiss Engineer named George de Mestral. He had gotten the idea for velcro from when he was hiking in the Swiss mountains in 1948 and some Cocklebur had gotten stuck onto his pants and onto his dog's fur. He then wondered how the Cocklebur stuck on and that is how Velcro was invented.

  • X. strumarium
  • X. italicum
  • X. spinosum
  • X. albinum
  • Unidentified Xanthium
gollark: Sure it can.
gollark: `loadstring` or `load` the environment with a custom env table, and then that env table will, I think, contain the globals after that gets run.
gollark: You can do that without classes...
gollark: The `help` thing nobody uses?
gollark: Ah; this crafter works by running on a simplified recipe set.

See also

References
  1. Flann, C (ed) 2009+ Global Compositae Checklist
  2. lectotype designated by J.P. Fourreau, Ann. Soc. Linn. Lyon ser. 2 17: 110 (1869)
  3. Tropicos, Xanthium L.
  4. Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 987 in Latin
  5. Flora of North America Vol. 21 Page 19, Lampourde, Xanthium Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 987. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 424. 1754.
  6. Flora of China Vol. 20–21 Page 4, 6, 852, 875 苍耳属 cang er shu Xanthium Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 987. 1753.
  7. English, J. (2010). "Natural Allergy Relief". Nutrition Review. 4 (2). Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  8. Cutler, H. G. and R. J. Cole. (1983). Carboxyatractyloside: A compound from Xanthium strumarium and Atractylis gummifera with plant growth inhibiting properties. Journal of Natural Products 46(5) 609-13.

Further reading
  • Everitt, J.H.; Lonard, R.L.; Little, C.R. (2007). Weeds in South Texas and Northern Mexico. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press. ISBN 0-89672-614-2
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