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Xanthium commune

Common name:		Family:	Compositae
Author:	Britton.	Botanical references:	43
Synonyms:	Xanthium italicum (Moretti.)
Known Hazards:	Poisonous[65, 76]. Most members of this genus are toxic to grazing animals and are usually avoided by them[222]. The seed also contains toxins[222].
Range:	Eastern N. America - southwards from Quebec and Saskatchewan.
Habitat:	Low ground, stream banks, waste places, cultivated land etc[43].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	X. acerosum[B,P] X. californicum[B,P] X. californicum var. rotundifolium[B,P] X. campestre[B,P] X. canadense[B,G,P] X. cavanillesii[B,P] X. cenchroides[B,P] X. echinatum[B,P] X. glanduliferum[B,P] X. macounii[B,P] X. oligacanthum[B,P] X. oviforme[B,P] X. pensylvanicum[B,P] X. saccharatum[B,P] X. speciosum[B,P] X. strumarium ssp. italicum[B,P] X. strumarium var. canadense[B,,G,P] X. strumarium var. oviforme[B,P] X. strumarium var. pensylvanicum[B,P] X. varians[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Abrojo [E], Canada Cockleburr [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	commune = common;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Argentina
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Iowa, Minnesota, New South Wales, Western Australia, Tasmaina, Northen Territory (Aust).

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 1.5m. . It is in flower from July to October, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Edible Uses

Seed.

Seed[161]. It is dried, then ground into a powder and mixed with cereal flours when making bread, biscuits etc[161]. Some caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain, though judging by its native range it is likely to succeed outdoors in many parts of the country. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus.
An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils but requires a sunny position.
Plants often self sow.

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ. The seed requires plenty of moisture in order to germinate.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Xanthium italicum (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

References for Xanthium strumarium var. canadense (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[65] Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe 1984 ISBN 0723408394
Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.

[76] Cooper. M. and Johnson. A. Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man. HMSO 1984 ISBN 0112425291
Concentrates mainly on the effects of poisonous plants to livestock.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Xanthium+commune
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Xanthium+commune

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.