Even as you read this, these evil little bastards are multiplying. We're told that everything in nature has its place and purpose, even mosquitoes, rattlesnakes and poison oak. I have a hard time accepting that, especially when it comes to these *!#&! stickers!
Oh sure , with their tiny little yellow flowers, they were kind of pretty and innocent looking about a month ago. 
But then the pretty little flowers went away and left the Trojan Horse to release the fruits of the plant in an effort to control the earth. 
Sorry it’s slightly out of focus, but above is a picture of one of those fruits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribulus_terrestrisFrom the Wikipedia link above:
“…A week after each flower blooms, it is followed by a fruit that easily falls apart into four or five single-seeded nutlets. The nutlets or "seeds" are hard and bear two to three sharp spines, 10 mm long and 4–6 mm broad point-to-point. These nutlets strikingly resemble goats' or bulls' heads; the "horns" are sharp enough to puncture bicycle tires and to cause painful injury to bare feet.”
Those are the nutlets in the top picture. I took the other pictures along the shoulder of the Silverado Trail, maybe a half mile North of our winery. If you are interested enough to want to see them for yourself, they are right across the road from the Rutherford Fire Department sub-station. I spent maybe 15 minutes there after work one day this week, taking pictures for this post. When I went to leave, I noticed that my shoes felt different, and this is why:
When I was young and growing up on the Mt. Eden Ranch (Current Rudd & Plumpjack vineyards), there was a county program to eradicate these weeds. I remember the truck driving through the vineyards, but I honestly can’t remember if the plants were physically removed, or just sprayed, but seems I remember a spray tank on the truck (Maybe one of my readers can clarify this). At that time, there was a Western Auto store right on Main Street in St. Helena. We were regular customers there for .22 shells and bicycle tube patches.
The Latin name for this evil plant is Tribulus Terrestri. Cleverly hidden in those letters is the word “Terrible”.
Gleaning some information from the above site:
Family: Zygophyllaceae, Caltrop Family
Annual Plant Size: Prostrate vine - generally less than 1" (2.5 cm) high, spreading to 5' (1.5 M) long in our area.
Habitat Preferred: Disturbed earth, weedy fields, roadsides Bloom
Color: Yellow tiny flowers
Other Common Names: Goat's head, Bullhead, *!#&! stickers!
Origin: Mediterranean
Comments: This is that obnoxious weed whose seeds are incredibly painful to step on, get tracked into your carpet, puncture your bicycle tires, and have to be pulled out of your pets' paws. The seed pod grows 4 "bullheads" in a circle … when mature it breaks up into 4 separate instruments of torture.
* = * = * = * = *
Yes, I think that descriptor they use: “Instruments of Torture” about sums it up.
Almost daily I hike through the vineyards in that area. On two occasions, I noticed that our Lab mix Yogi had stopped hunting and chasing rabbits, and was following me closely and limping. Both times he had one of these Goat’s Heads stuck in a paw, but being the great dog that he is, he never verbalized or vocalized his discomfort (Do those terms apply to dogs?).
Yogi Bear
1 comment:
We have these in abundance here in Central CA. Bicycle tube patching was the norm for a summer day growing up. Our JV baseball field was called Sticker Stadium because as you slid into second base you would collect stickers in your butt.
Later when we built the new city stadium in its place, I suggested the name Sticker Stadium at Dobson Field. (Paul Dobson was the farmer that donated the land originally.) I even remember one of our players getting a triple when an opponent outfielder chased down a ball in the gap and when he reached for the ball received a handful of stickers also. The outfielder dropped the ball and our runner kept running to third.
What is the redeeming social value of a puncture vine?
Steve in Exeter CA
Post a Comment