Seeing the FLICKR GROUP photo on the main page and the weedy lawn area around the underpass makes me recall how that was the sort of weedy area that if I rode my bicycle through I'd wind up with a bunch of thorns in my tires.

That sort of thorny weed must not be common to the Seattle area as I haven't seen it in my bike tires since my Miles City days.

I don't recall the weed that produces those thorns. Is it "burr grass" aka "sticker weed"?

Salsola tragus aka prickly russian thistle and/or Salsola paulsenii aka barewire russian thistle.

Are you sure about that one Richard? I can't see the photo well enough to be sure, but I would guess (Tribulus terrestris L.) or puncture vine. It is common on the bike path around the fair grounds and other places.

[This message has been edited by MRH (4/10/2013)]

We referred to Tribulus terrestris as goathead.

[This message has been edited by Buck Showalter (4/10/2013)]

David,

Wonderful memories! I had forgotten all about that! We could patch tires faster than the pit crews at Daytona.

FH

California must have "goathead":



"Goathead thorn warrior"

http://encinitasyouneedus...rrior.html

It is Tribulus terrestris. Every vacant lot, the railroad right-of-way and the old Sacred Heart "playground" where they built the modern High School was infested with it.

Frank. I used to think the more patches you got on a tube, the less problem you would have, but the goathead always managed to find a bare spot between two patches where you couldn't put another. Seems like every Saturday I was a Coast to Coast buying another tube....

I think there was a "Star Trek" episode about that weed -- "The Trouble with Tribulus".

MRH: This is Tribulus terrestris L. puncture vine.



It shows up really well on my retina display. So I am pretty sure.

FYI the "thorn in the thumb" picture above was just a random image I found on the Internet that was a close approximation of what I remember the thorns in my bike tires looked like.

It's hard to search for the exact thorn when you don't know the name of the plant that produces it.

FYI the "thorn in the thumb" picture above was just a random image I found on the Internet that was a close approximation of what I remember the thorns in my bike tires looked like.

That is pretty funny. Richard the only reason I asked about the ID, is the goat heads and some grass burrs seem to be the main ones that cause bicycle flats in this area. I learned to avoid the infested areas that were described by another poster. A lot of 'no flat' is used in bicycle tires in this town.