GRIP

GRIP



Taxon:  Tribulus terrestris L.



Summary
Genus:
Tribulus
Family:
Zygophyllaceae
Subfamily:
Tribuloideae
Nomen number:
100965
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 1:387. 1753
Verified:
05/20/1992 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
1 (1  active, 0  available) in National Plant Germplasm System.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Autonym(s)
Tribulus terrestris L. var. terrestris

No images


Reference(s)
  1. Sagástegui Alva, A. & S. Leiva González. 1993. Flora invasora de los cultivos del Perú. 129-130.
  2. Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource) www.skud.info
  3. Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. 1976-. Flora of Libya.
  4. Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
  5. Barker, R. M. 1998. A trial key and notes on Tribulus (Zygophyllaceae) in Australia, including one new species and validation of Tribulus suberosus. Nuytsia 12:29.
  6. Botanical Society of the British Isles. BSBI taxon database (on-line resource).
  7. Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 161.
  8. Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
  9. Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
  10. Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
  11. Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
  12. Holm, L. et al. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds
  13. Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening 4:497.
  14. Izquierdo Z., I. et al., eds. 2004. Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias: hongos, plantas y animales terrestres
  15. Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953-1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
  16. Kellerman, T. S. et al. 1988. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa
  17. Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Note: poisonous
  18. Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
  19. Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third.
  20. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
  21. Merxmüller, H., ed. 1966-1972. Prodromus einer flora von Sudwestafrika.
  22. Middleditch, B. S. & A. M. Amer. 1991. Kuwaiti plants: distribution, traditional medicine, phytochemistry,... economic value (Studies in Plant Science 2).
  23. Mun-Chan, B. et al. 1986. A checklist of the Korean cultivated plants. Kulturpflanze 34:132.
  24. Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
  25. Parsons, W. T. & E. G. Cuthbertson. 1992. Noxious weeds of Australia Inkata Press, Melbourne, Australia.
  26. Personal Care Products Council. INCI
  27. Quézel, P. & S. Santa. 1962-1963. Nouvelle flore de l'Algerie.
  28. Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
  29. Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
  30. Robyns, W. et al., eds. 1948-1963. Flore du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi
  31. Seed Regulatory and Testing Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S.D.A. State noxious-weed seed requirements recognized in the administration of the Federal Seed Act (updated annually).
  32. Thulin, M., ed. 1993-. Flora of Somalia.
  33. Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest. 1966-. Flora of Iraq.
  34. Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
  35. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
  36. Ugarte, E. et al. 2011. Vascular alien flora, Chile. Check List 7:380.
  37. Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama.
  38. 2018. Mid-Atlantic invasive plant species (on-line resource)
Common names
English
caltrop –
cat's-head –
common dubbletjie –
devil's-thorn –
devil's-weed –
goat's-head –
puncturevine –
small caltrops –
tribulus –
English (Canada)
puncture vine –
French
tribule terrestre –
French (Canada)
croix-de-Malte –
India
gokhru –
Spanish
abrojos –
espigón –
Swedish
tiggarnöt –
Transcribed Chinese
ji li –
Transcribed Korean
namgasae –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaKenya  
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaTanzania  
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaUganda  
1NativeAfricaMacaronesiaSpainCanarias 
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaSomalia  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaEgypt  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaLibya  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaMorocco  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaTunisia  
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMalawi  
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMozambique  
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZambia  
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZimbabwe  
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaBotswana  
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaEswatini  
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaLesotho  
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaNamibia  
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth Africa  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaBenin  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGhana  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaMali  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaNiger  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaNigeria  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaSenegal  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaTogo  
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCameroon  
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaDemocratic Republic of the Congo  
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaGabon  
1NativeAfricaWestern Indian OceanMadagascar  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaKuwait  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaSaudi Arabia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusArmenia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusAzerbaijan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusGeorgia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian Federation-CiscaucasiaCiscaucasia 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChina  
1NativeAsia-TemperateEastern AsiaJapan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKazakhstan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKyrgyzstan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTajikistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTurkmenistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaUzbekistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMongoliaMongolia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateSiberiaRussian Federation-Western SiberiaWestern Siberias.e.
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaAfghanistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaCyprus  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaEgyptSinai 
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIran  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIraq  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIsrael  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaJordan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaLebanon  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaSyria  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaTurkey  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndia  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentPakistan  
1NativeAustralasiaAustraliaAustralia n.
1NativeEuropeEastern EuropeMoldova  
1NativeEuropeEastern EuropeRussian Federation-European partEuropean parts.
1NativeEuropeEastern EuropeUkraine incl. Krym
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeAustria  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeHungary  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeSlovakia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeBulgaria  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeCroatia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece incl. Crete
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly incl. Sardinia, Sicily
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeRomania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeSlovenia  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance incl. Corsica
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropePortugal  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain incl. Baleares
4Naturalized    widely natzd.
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaSouthern South AmericaChile  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaWestern South AmericaPeru  
6Other    exact native range obscure
Native
Africa
  • MACARONESIA: Spain [Canarias]
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
  • NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Somalia
  • EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
  • WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon
  • WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Benin, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo
  • SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa
  • WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Madagascar
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
  • WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan, Cyprus, Egypt [Sinai], Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
  • CAUCASUS: Russian Federation-Ciscaucasia [Ciscaucasia], Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
  • SIBERIA: Russian Federation-Western Siberia [Western Siberia (s.e.)]
  • MIDDLE ASIA: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
  • MONGOLIA: Mongolia
  • CHINA: China
  • EASTERN ASIA: Japan
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India, Pakistan
Australasia
  • AUSTRALIA: Australia (n.)
Europe
  • MIDDLE EUROPE: Austria, Hungary, Slovakia
  • EASTERN EUROPE: Russian Federation-European part [European part (s.)], Moldova, Ukraine (incl. Krym)
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Albania, Bulgaria, Greece (incl. Crete), Croatia, Italy (incl. Sardinia, Sicily), Romania, Slovenia
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain (incl. Baleares), France (incl. Corsica), Portugal
Naturalized

  • REGION:
Southern America
  • WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Peru
  • SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Chile
Other (exact native range obscure)
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Medicinesfolklore Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Medicinesfolklore McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Kellerman, T. S. et al. 1988. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Note: poisonous
Weedpotential seed contaminant Holm, L. et al. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://grip.mawarid.gov.om/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=100965. Accessed 29 April 2025.