Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Asterales Link
Family
Compositae Giseke
 Subordinate Taxa
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Xanthium L., Sp. Pl. 987 (1753)
 Description

Annual herbs. Lvs alternate, simple, entire to serrate or lobed. Capitula unisexual, sessile or shortly pedunculate, solitary, terminal and in panicles or racemes, or clustered in axils. ♂ capitula ± globose; involucral bracts in 1 row; receptacle conic; scales present; corolla tubular. ♀ capitula ovoid; involucral bracts in 2 rows, the outer small and free, the inner connate, prickly and ending in 1–2 beaks containing the 2 florets; corolla 0. Achenes all similar, ovoid, enclosed within the expanded prickly involucre; pappus 0.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Exotic
Number of species in New Zealand within Xanthium L.
CategoryNumber
Exotic: Fully Naturalised2
Total2
 Bibliography
Linnaeus, C. 1753: Species Plantarum. Impensis Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm.
Mabberley, D.J. 2008: Mabberley's plant book, a portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses. Edition 3. Cambridge University Press.