Cocklebur

Scientific Names

Xanthium strumarium L.
Compositae
Composite family

Common Names

Cocklebur
Hsi-erh (Chinese name)
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Cocklebur is a variable weedy annual plant that grows to 5 feet in height. The leaves are oval to heart-shaped, somewhat lobed or toothed, on long stalks. The green flowers are inconspicuous. The fruits are oval, with crowded hooked prickles, often called burrs. Blooms September to November.
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Where Found

Found in waste places.
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Medicinal Properties

Antispasmodic, analgesic, alterative, antibacterial, antifungal, diuretic, febrifuge, sedative
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Biochemical Information

Xanthostrumarin, resin, fatty oil, alkaloids, organic acid, vitamin C, ceryl alcohol
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Legends, Myths and Stories

This weed is very obnoxious to contact; the seed pods tend to adhere to animal fur and human clothing. Often transplanted throughout an area by clinging to the fur of animals and dropping at distances to become wider spread and more obnoxious. It is a very valuable therapeutic medicinal used by the Chinese for rheumatic pains and aches as well as sinus blockage. Also used as a yellow dye.

Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria L.) is sometimes called cocklebur, but this herb belongs to the rose family and is no relation to the true cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium L.)
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Uses

Cocklebur was once used for rabies, fevers, malaria, sinusitis, allergic rhinitis with headaches, chronic lumbago, leprosy, and pruritis (severe itching) of the skin. Native Americans used the leaf tea for kidney diseases, rheumatism, arthritis, tuberculosis (TB), colds, as a blood tonic, and diarrhea. The Chinese had similar uses.
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Nutrient Content

Vitamin C
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Warning

Most cocklebur species are toxic to livestock and are usually avoided by them. Seeds contain toxins, but the seed oil has served as lamp fuel.
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Bibliography

American Folk Medicine, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973

Chinese Medicinal Herbs, compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973.

Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000

Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, Shambala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973

Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023, 1984

The Rodale Herb Book, edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974