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California puncture weed
noun a low-growing plant (Emex australis) having many hard, sharp, spiny seeds that are extremely painful to step on and which will sometimes even puncture through shoe soles. Compare bullhead, caltrop, cat head1, cat's eye1, double-gee, goat's head, three-corner jack.
Contributor's comments: California weed? - three corner jack, please.
Contributor's comments: I grew up in Central SA and Adelaide, lived at Bordertown and Port Lincoln SA. As a Weed Scientist I have noted common names for plants. "Three corner jack" is used for Emex australis in SA (Doublegee in WA). "Californian puncture vine" is used (rarely) on the Riverland areas of SA for Tribulis terrestris. "Caltrop" and "bindii" (bindee) are not used for Emex australis in SA or WA, but these are used for Tribulis spp esp T. terrestris (Caltrop) a different plant to Emex australis. The name is probably used in the Victorian mallee as well for caltrop but never for Exex. Check Parsons and Cuthbertson 1992 Noxious Weeds of Australia for some references (Inkata Press).
Contributor's comments: Where I live, Wentworth, far west NSW, I have never heard this referred to as California puncture weed, just puncture weed. (I'd never heard the term till I moved here about 8 years ago). This seems the commonest usage here but I've also heard it referred to as cats head. Earlier this year (May 2003) a survey of community concerns in Wentworth Shire elicited the following comment under 'Vision' (for the future of Wentworth): 'Free of puncture weeds, crime free'. And how to do it? 'Eradicate weeds constantly, More police presence'. They truly are a real menace, you can't go barefoot even indoors, because they come in with your shoes and get stuck in the carpet, and then in your feet. One plant can produce dozens of burrs and they last for years. They can germinate just lying on the ground surface and they retain their spikes after germination.