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Weed Seed: Vaccaria hispanica (Cow cockle)

Family

Caryophyllaceae

Synonym

Saponaria vaccaria

Common Name

Cow cockle

Regulation

Secondary Noxious, Class 3 in the Canadian Weed Seeds Order, 2016 under the Seeds Act.

Distribution

Canadian: Occurs in AB, BC, MB, NB, NS, ON, QC, SK, YT (Brouillet et al. 2016Footnote 1).

Worldwide: Native to northern Africa, Europe and temperate Asia and introduced in North America, Argentina, Uruguay, northeast Africa, South Africa, Australia, and beyond its native range in Asia (Arabian Peninsula, Japan, Thailand) (USDA-ARS 2016Footnote 2). Widespread in the United States (USDA-NRCS 2016Footnote 3).

Duration of Life Cycle

Annual

Seed or Fruit Type

Seed

Identification Features

Size

Shape

Surface Texture

Colour

Other Features

Habitat and Crop Association

Cultivated fields, old fields, roadsides, railway lines and disturbed areas (Darbyshire 2003Footnote 4).

General Information

Cow cockle prefers fine-textured soils (Frankton and Mulligan 1993Footnote 5). It was a common weed of grain crops in the past, but its numbers and distribution have been declining over the last few decades (FNA 1993+Footnote 6). The saponins contained in the plants and seeds are potentially toxic to livestock if ingested (Frankton and Mulligan 1993Footnote 5).

Similar Species

Bouncingbet (Saponaria officinalis)

Photos

Cow cockle (Vaccaria hispanica) seeds
Cow cockle (Vaccaria hispanica) seed, hilum view
Cow cockle (Vaccaria hispanica) seed, hilum view
Cow cockle (Vaccaria hispanica) seed
Cow cockle (Vaccaria hispanica) seed, cross-section

Similar species

Similar species: Bouncingbet (Saponaria officinalis) seeds
Similar species: Bouncingbet (Saponaria officinalis) seed, hilum view
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