Star Burr
Acanthospermum australe ?
Herbaceous weed growing a few cm tall in a pasture environment. Eldoret, Kenya, Africa. January 2012.
HERBACEOUS: Low growing and mostly herbaceous; often prostrate.
FLOWERS: Pale cream colored flowers are set in small heads. The heads
have male flowers clustered at center and the female (seed producing) around
perimeter.
LEAVES: Leaves are oblong to deltoid. The margins appear wavy.
FRUIT: The bracts subtending the pistillate flower and seed are set with
numerous hooked projections. The long spur characterisitic of Acanthospermum
hispidum was not present.
RANGE: This plant is native to the Neotropics and no doubt was transported unintentionally.
UNARMED. The plant itself lacks thorns.