Burke: Tribulus terrestris

	Tribulus terrestris
	puncture vine
Habit	Stiff-hairy, prostrate annual, forming mats 3-10 dm. broad.
Leaves	Leaves opposite, pinnate; leaflets 4-8 pairs, obliquely oblong-ovate, 5-15 mm. long; stipules 1-2 mm. long.
Flowers	Flowers solitary on short, axillary peduncles; sepals 5; petals 5, yellow, 3-5 mm. long, attached at the edge of a 10-lobed disk; stamens 10, borne within the disk; style 1, stigma 5-lobed.
Fruits	Fruit depressed, deeply 5-lobed, separating at maturity into 5 hard, 2-spined segments, the spines 2-6 mm. long, with numerous smaller spines that form a broad, dorsal, longitudinal row.

	Tribulus terrestris
Flowering time	May-September
Habitat	Noxious weed of sandy soils and roadsides.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced from Europe and northern Africa
Conservation status	Not of concern
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Tribulus terrestris

puncture vine

Habit

Stiff-hairy, prostrate annual, forming mats 3-10 dm. broad.

Leaves

Leaves opposite, pinnate;

leaflets 4-8 pairs, obliquely oblong-ovate, 5-15 mm. long;

stipules 1-2 mm. long.

Flowers

Flowers solitary on short, axillary peduncles;

sepals 5;

petals 5, yellow, 3-5 mm. long, attached at the edge of a 10-lobed disk;

stamens 10, borne within the disk;

style 1, stigma 5-lobed.

Fruits

Fruit depressed, deeply 5-lobed, separating at maturity into 5 hard, 2-spined segments, the spines 2-6 mm. long, with numerous smaller spines that form a broad, dorsal, longitudinal row.