OT What are goat-heads?

[micky]

OT "We moved out to the country 2 years ago. Within the first two days all 3 of our 4 kids' bike tires went flat from the goat-heads on the property."

What are goat-heads?

[Pavel314]

Seeds of the plant described at

"The nutlets or "seeds" are hard and bear two to three sharp spines, 10 mm long and 4?6 mm broad point-to-point. These nutlets strikingly resemble g oats' or bulls' heads; the "horns" are sharp enough to puncture bicycle tir es and lawn mower tires and to cause painful injury to bare fee"

[dpb]

OT "We moved out to the country 2 years ago. Within the first two days all 3 of our 4 kids' bike tires went flat from the goat-heads on the property."

What are goat-heads?

dags--

A wonderful joy in drier areas, indeed...along w/ the sandburs they're a dandy duo. :(

[David L. Martel]

Micky,

Tribulus terrestris is a flowering plant. It's considered a weed in the US. It's also lnown as the caltrop or the puncture vine.

Dave M.

[dpb]

It isn't "considered" a weed, it _IS_ a weed...and a scourge at that.

Not quite to the level of being on the noxious weed list because it's easy enough to eradicate and doesn't have quite the level of invasive-ness of the things that make that list (stuff like bindweed, Canadian thistle, etc., etc., ...) but as a nuisance it's right on up there w/ the best of 'em.

[dpb]

It isn't "considered" a weed, it _IS_ a weed...and a scourge at that.

Not quite to the level of being on the noxious weed list because it's easy enough to eradicate and doesn't have quite the level of invasive-ness of the things that make that list (stuff like bindweed, Canadian thistle, etc., etc., ...) but as a nuisance it's right on up there w/ the best of 'em.

[Fat-Dumb and Happy]

Ouch the bottoms of my feet hurt just to think about them... any kid that's goes barefoot learns fast what a goatheads are and never forgets. And bike tires... replace the tubes with the heavy duty ones, put in slime and keep the air pump handy... when you change the tubes be sure to check the inside of the tire for barbs that are still sticking through the tire. Goatheads are one of the easiest plants to pull up, only a big tap root holding them, or a broad leaf herbicide will clear your yard of them.

read all about it,..

[PickyJAZ]

I live in the So Cal High Desert where the goat head vines seemingly are pl entiful and come up wherever they can. Simple enough to defeat these groun d crawling buggers if you keep watch for their tiny green leaves and yellow flowers. Get yourself a Hula Hoe. Immediately scout around for all the y oung ones you can find to a ground lever tear-out of those, but the larger/ older ones may need a bit of a dig out. If allowed where you are. let the pile of cut-outs sun dry out and burn them. After you've cleared all plant s out being sure to also watch for and rake up and be rid of any already fa llen dead-heads, make regular scouting ventures to hula hoe up your elder p lants' babies that certainly can be normal trash bin disposed of (instead o f burning.