Until I knew better, I thought this was a pleasant little groundcover plant. There is nothing pleasant about this miserable, pervasive weed. Commonly referred to as goathead or puncture plant, its official name is Tribulus terrestris, and it's a nasty, evil little bugger.
Look! It gets a tiny, pretty yellow flower on it! But you want to catch the miserable bastard and yank it out by the root before the flower forms. I find it's also effective to use a hoe to scrape off the tiny plants before they flower and produce the hard, pointy seeds.
You can see the burrs beginning to form on the underside of the flowers. They start out green and then dry to a tan to brown color and become hard with several sharp points. I've heard that the seeds remain viable up to seven years and then germinate when conditions are right.
It's my goal to have a barefoot friendly patch of lawn in my backyard. Until this infestation of goathead is eradicated I'm definitely wearing shoes! My garden Crocs have a thick enough sole to protect my feet. There were so many burrs last summer the sole would be totally covered with them after working in the yard. I'd sit down with a pair of needle nose pliers and carefully remove them into the garbage. Don't compost them! They'll germinate and spread. Burning them is effective but I just make sure both the burrs and the plants go into the garbage. Also, please wear leather gloves when pulling them or removing them from your shoes to avoid ouchies. Weeds in general are a pain in the ass, but these miserable fuckers are a pain wherever they lodge.
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