puncture weed

noun

1. a caltrop, Tribulus terrestris, having spiny fruit that can puncture tires.

Example Sentences

The puncture weed's burrlike seeds can flatten bicycle tires, foul up cotton-picking machinery, rip through horsehide and gouge cattle.

From Time Magazine Archive

The weevil's life cycle is inextricably linked with the growth of the puncture weed.

From Time Magazine Archive

Few plants are as useless, ugly and loathsome as the creeping puncture weed that straggles haphazardly across most of the western U.S.

From Time Magazine Archive

Even the puncture weed's scientific name, Tribulus terrestris�"earthly bed of spikes," takes account of the tribulations it causes.*

From Time Magazine Archive

Last week biologists were well into the decisive battle of a long campaign to bring the prickly puncture weed under control.

From Time Magazine Archive