Rough Cocklebur

Rough Cocklebur

Xanthium strumarium

Indiana is full of exotic invasive plants.  537 of the 2630 species of plants found in Indiana are considered to be introduced and about 100 of those are considered invasive.

This isn't one of them.  It has the appearance of a weedy invasive, such as burdock, but it's a native species.

However, it's not native to Africa, where it has gotten established and is now considered to be an alien invasive.  So I guess it's just a matter of where you live and where the species started out to know if you should hate it or not.



The pistillate flowers are the large ones. The one to the left is a good example.

The staminate flowers are the smaller ones. The middle left one is the staminate flower.



Heart shaped leaf

The pods hang on for over a year