North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Cenchrus tribuloides

Cenchrus tribuloides L.

dune sandspur

Image ID: 34838
Image by: SOS, Collectors
Image Collection: Seeds of Success

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: CETR
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cenchrus tribuloides
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-01-27

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: CENCH
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Cenchrus
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Sandbur
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 90-150 species, primarily tropical and subtropical. The circumscription of Cenchrus now includes Pennisetum (Chemisquy et al. 2010).
GENUS IDENTIFICATION: Identification notes: Spikelets of Cenchrus are subtended by an involucre of spines and/or bristles which are (in many of our species) fused into a bur. Bristles are narrow-based and terete. Spines are broad-based, and somewhat flattened (not terete) in cross-section, at least basally.
GENUS REFERENCES: Stieber & Wipff in FNA (2003a); Wipff in FNA (2003a); Ward (2010b)=Y; Crins (1991)=Z; Chemisquy et al. (2010)=X; Verloove (2012)=V. Key based in part on FNA.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: POACEA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Poaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: (R. Brown) Barnhart 1895 or GRAMINEAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Grass Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 771 genera and 12,074 species, herbs (and some shrubs and trees), cosmopolitan. Tribal classification largely follows FNA (2003a, 2007a), with some changes based on subsequent research, as for instance in the Chloridoideae (Peterson, Romaschenko, & Johnson 2010a).
FAMILY REFERENCE: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003a, 2007a)=FNA; Hitchcock and Chase (1950)=HC; Blomquist (1948); Peterson, Romaschenko, & Johnson (2010a, 2010b). Key to genera adapted in large part from FNA.

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO:
STEMS:
LEAVES:
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS:
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT:

DURATION: Annual
HABIT: Grass/Grasslike

LEAF ARRANGEMENT:
LEAF COMPLEXITY:
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: Aug-Oct

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
						x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR:

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE:
NATIVE RANGE:

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
466	SOS	2015-09-08	Heraty	View
735	SOS	2016-09-20	Dakar	View
789	SOS	2016-10-06	Walker	View
878	SOS	2016-11-17	Faucette	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: CETR
USDA Common Name: Sanddune Sandbur
Native Status: L48 (N), HI (I)
Distribution: USA (AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, LA, MA, MD, ME, MS, NC, NJ, NY, PA, SC, VA, VT)
Duration: Annual
Growth Habit: Graminoid

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACU			UPL	UPL		UPL		UPL

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cenchrus tribuloides
COMMON NAME: Dune Sandspur
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, FNA, HC, K, Pa, RAB, S, Va, W, WH3, Y, Z]
PHENOLOGY: Aug-Oct.
HABITAT: Dunes, sandy fields, sandy woodlands in the outer Coastal Plain.
COMMENTS: NY (Long Island) south to FL, west to TX, south into tropical America. This is the sandspur so familiar to (and disliked by) beach-goers in much of our area.
RANGE MAP: Cenchrus tribuloides.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Poaceae (R. Brown) Barnhart 1895 or GRAMINEAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Grass Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 771 genera and 12,074 species, herbs (and some shrubs and trees), cosmopolitan. Tribal classification largely follows FNA (2003a, 2007a), with some changes based on subsequent research, as for instance in the Chloridoideae (Peterson, Romaschenko, & Johnson 2010a).
REFERENCE: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003a, 2007a)=FNA; Hitchcock and Chase (1950)=HC; Blomquist (1948); Peterson, Romaschenko, & Johnson (2010a, 2010b). Key to genera adapted in large part from FNA.

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Cenchrus L. (Sandbur)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 90-150 species, primarily tropical and subtropical. The circumscription of Cenchrus now includes Pennisetum (Chemisquy et al. 2010).
REFERENCE: Stieber & Wipff in FNA (2003a); Wipff in FNA (2003a); Ward (2010b)=Y; Crins (1991)=Z; Chemisquy et al. (2010)=X; Verloove (2012)=V. Key based in part on FNA.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Cenchrus tribuloides in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Cenchrus tribuloides in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Cenchrus tribuloides in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Cenchrus tribuloides in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Cenchrus tribuloides in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Cenchrus tribuloides

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 34838 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 0 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 34838 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)