Tribulus terrestris

Higher Taxonomy

Family: Zygophyllaceae

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.

Genus: Tribulus

View Description

Common Name: PUNCTURE VINE, CALTROP
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.
Etymology: (Latin: weapon used to impede cavalry, from armed fruit)

Tribulus terrestris L.

NATURALIZED
Stem: +- silky or appressed-hairy, also sharply bristly. Leaf: stipules 1--5 mm; leaflets 6--12. Flower: < 5 mm wide; pedicel generally < subtending leaf. Fruit: 5 mm, < 1 cm wide, +- flat, hairy, gray or +- yellow; spines 4--7 mm, spreading, hairy to glabrous.
Ecology: Dry, disturbed areas including roadsides, railways, vacant lots; Elevation: generally < 1000 m. Bioregional Distribution: CA; Distribution Outside California: to Wyoming, eastern United States, central Mexico; native to Mediterranean. Toxicity: TOXIC to livestock in vegetative condition, fruits cause mechanical injury. Flowering Time: Apr--Oct Note: First collected in California in 1902; long a pernicious weed, now controlled by introduced weevils.
Jepson eFlora Author: Duncan M. Porter
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
Noxious Weed listed on the CDFA Weed Pest Ratings table
View the CDFA Pest Rating page for Tribulus terrestris
Weed listed by Cal-IPC

Previous taxon: Tribulus
Next taxon: Zygophyllum

Botanical illustration including Tribulus terrestris

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Citation for this treatment: Duncan M. Porter 2012, Tribulus terrestris, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=46922, accessed on April 18, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 18, 2024.

Tribulus terrestris

Tribulus terrestris

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Geographic subdivisions for Tribulus terrestris: CA	MAP CONTROLS 1. You can change the display of the base map layer control box in the upper right-hand corner. 2. County and Jepson Region polygons can be turned off and on using the check boxes.

(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).	Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. MAP LEGEND View all CCH records All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window. Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location. Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues. READ ABOUT YELLOW FLAGS CCH collections by month Duplicates counted once; synonyms included. Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA. Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).