VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Xanthium strumarium | Common Cocklebur 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Common cocklebur is considered a nuisance by livestock producers.  The
plant grows in barnyards, pastures, and around farm ponds where it is
commonly encountered by livestock.  The spine-covered burs become
entangled in the hides of farm animals.  Wool value is decreased if
entangled with common cocklebur [32].

Common cocklebur seeds and cotyledon leaves are poisonous to all classes
of livestock.  Beyond the cotyledon stage, plants are not poisonous.
Consumption of seeds is fatal at about 0.3 percent of an animal's body
weight; however, the seeds are rarely eaten.  Poisoning usually occurs
from consumption of seedlings.  It takes several hundred coytledons
(about 1 to 2 percent of body weight) to poison pigs [3,14].

Mourning doves eat common cocklebur seeds to a limited extent [22].


PALATABILITY : 
Common cocklebur is unpalatable to all classes of livestock.  Adult
plants, however, are relatively nutritious [see Nutritional Value].  Its
unpalatability is apparently due to the rough texture of stems and
leaves [21,32].

In a ranking of foods eaten by Rocky Mountain elk, Kufeld [16] listed
common cocklebur as a "highly valuable" elk forage.  The ranking was
based on one study conducted in Montana.


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
A 3-year study which analyzed the nutritional parameters of weedy
species found that common cocklebur foliage in June and July is only
slightly less nutritious than alfalfa.  Over the 3-year period, crude
protein and in vitro digestible dry matter in July averaged 24 and 77
percent, respectively [21].


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
In the United States, common cocklebur is a major weed in cotton and
soybean fields.  Infestations in soybean fields can cause severe crop
losses, as much as 60 to 75 percent [32].  Common cocklebur is
effectively controlled by a number of soil- or foliar-applied systemic
herbicides commonly used in agricultural fields [30,32].

Related categories for Species: Xanthium strumarium | Common Cocklebur