File:Xanthium_strumarium_L..jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Xanthium
Sign in to saveAlso known as cocklebur, cockleburs
Xanthium (cocklebur) is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Heliantheae within the family Asteraceae, native to the Americas and eastern Asia and some parts of south Asia.
OverviewAI-generated
Xanthium is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae, commonly known as cocklebur. It belongs to the order Asterales and the class Magnoliopsida within the phylum Tracheophyta. The genus name derives from the Greek word xanthos, meaning yellow or fair-haired. Its parent taxon is Heliantheae, and it produces fruit in the form of an achene.
The genus has been introduced to various regions, including Austria, Belgium, Brazil North, and the Azores. Records from iDigBio indicate presence in Mexico and the United States, with data held by institutions such as INECOL and UNM. The taxon is currently accepted, and its common names include Stekelnoot, 苍耳属, and Pıtraq.
Synthesized by Vinony from 45 facts across 9 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, iNaturalist, Gbif Occ, Plants of the World, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
rough cocklebur
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassMagnoliopsida
- OrderAsterales
- FamilyAsteraceae
General: Xanthium (from Gr. ξανθος (xanthos), yellow or fair-haired
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 481
- With media
- 410
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Collections
- INECOL, CIIDIR-IPN, ETSU, UNM, COLO, UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
- Recorded in
- Mexico, United States
Research
704 papers- Xanthanolides in Xanthium L.: Structures, Synthesis and Bioactivity.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022
- Xanthium italicum-Heavy Metal Accumulator?Chemistry & biodiversity · 2025
- Xanthium strumarium.The Journal of laboratory and clinical medicine · 1998
- Xanthium strumarium seed extract boosts osteogenesis in human dental pulp stem cell model.Journal of Ayurveda and integrative medicine · 2023
- Traditional Uses, Botany, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Pharmacokinetics and Toxicology of Xanthium strumarium L.: A Review.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019
via PubMed
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
9 sectionsContents
- Description
- Biology
- Diversity
- Legal status
- Toxicity and uses
- Gallery
- See also
- References
- Further reading
Xanthium (cocklebur) is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Heliantheae within the family Asteraceae, native to the Americas and eastern Asia and some parts of south Asia.
==Description== Cockleburs are coarse, herbaceous annual plants growing to tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, with deeply toothed margins. Some species, notably Xanthium spinosum, are also very thorny with long, slender spines at the leaf bases.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Xanthium” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.