9.11.12 Puncturevine (Tribulus terrestris) first caught my attention with its 1/2 inch yellow flowers on a meandering vine in a dry vacant lot. Its innocent appeal soon faded when I noted the seed pods that could be a model for primitive warfare. Literature notes that it is notoroius as a cause of flat bicycle tires, livestock injuries, and damage to sheep wool; while it has not made the state list of noxious weeds, Morgan County (where I live) has listed it. Redstem filaree aka Storksbill, a member of the geranium family with 3/8 in. pink flowers and lacy foliage, has beaked fruits more than one inch in length that split at maturity into five, one-seeded sections with coiled appendages. Russian thistle is a densely branched annual with red-striped stems that grows to 2 - 3 feet tall. Small hollyhock-like blossoms, each accompanied by a pair of spiny bracts, are borne in the leaf axils of upper leaves. At maturity, the plants break off at ground level and seeds are scattered as the tumbleweed is blown about.
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