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 .
Cockleburs are coarse, herbaceous annual plants growing to 50–120 cm (20–47 in) 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.
The flower heads are of two types; One, in short terminal bran...