When the spurs are green
kids have battles, flinging stems full of spurs at each other.
It's cool enough when the whole stem sticks to the back of
someone's shirt and breaks apart when he tries to pull it off,
but sometimes you score a good hit on an arm or leg and then
the kid has to pull them out of his skin.
When the spurs dry out they
separate and fall off the stem. This makes it even easier for
a single spur to be caught up by wind or beast and transfered
to a new location. Since the spur is the seed, this means the
plant spreads something awful.
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Sandspurs
Sandspurs are one of the worst
things about Florida. If you get them in your garden or lawn
you will have to fight them for years.
The plants name pretty well describes
it - it lives in sandy soil and is composed of lots of little
spurs.
When the spurs emerge from
the leaf they are green, but will still pierce bare feet and
stick to clothes and animal fur. If you have a dog in Florida
you have to learn how to pull a sandspur from between it's
toes - it's only a matter of time until they encounter one.
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