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Vascular Plants of California
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Tribulus
PUNCTURE VINE, CALTROP

Higher Taxonomy
Family: ZygophyllaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key

Common Name: CALTROP FAMILY
Habit: Annual, perennial herb, shrub, often armed; caudex present or not. Stem: branched; nodes often angled, swollen. Leaf: 1-compound, opposite, petioled; stipules persistent or not; leaflets entire. Inflorescence: flowers 1--2 in axils. Flower: bisexual; sepals 5, free, persistent or not; petals 5, free, generally spreading, twisted (corolla propeller-like) or not; stamens 10, appendaged on inside base or not; ovary superior, chambers (and lobes) 5--10, each with 1--several ovules, placentas axile. Fruit: capsule or splitting into 5--10 nutlets (= mericarps).
Genera In Family: 27 genera, +- 250 species: widespread especially in warm, dry regions; some cultivated (Guaiacum, lignum vitae; Tribulus, caltrop).
eFlora Treatment Author: Duncan M. Porter
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Tribulus
Habit: Annual. Stem: prostrate, spreading radially, generally < 1 m. Leaf: even-1-pinnate; stipules +- leaf-like. Inflorescence: flowers 1 in axils. Flower: sepals deciduous; petals yellow, deciduous. Fruit: 5-lobed, splitting into 5 nutlets, each with many tubercles, 2--4 stout spines; style deciduous; pedicel reflexed. Seed: 3--5 per chamber.
Species In Genus: +- 12 species: especially dry Africa. Etymology: (Latin: weapon used to impede cavalry, from armed fruit)
Jepson eFlora Author: Duncan M. Porter
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Larrea tridentata
Next taxon: Tribulus terrestris

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Citation for this treatment: Duncan M. Porter 2012, Tribulus, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=9718, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.