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Bur Cucumber

Sicyos angulatus

Bur cucumber has rapidly become one of the worst weeds we have in soybeans and corn. Apparently it was introduced in seed from Delaware. Its large number of seeds coupled with an extremely fast growing viney nature allows it to spread over one hundred feet in one year. Although a member of the cucumber family it does not have the fleshy fruit of the cucumber. The seeds are in the open and are covered with barbed prickly bristles which easily penetrate socks and become painfully imbedded in the skin.

Photo of Bur Cucumber

Photo by Dr. John Meade, weed scientist emeritus
Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension