| Author | L. | |
| Distribution | Scattered records from the Sandhills and middle Coastal Plain. A specimen at the Missouri Botanical Garden is posted without an image and so not entered here. Based on the sparse range, and collections from two botanically "impoverished" counties (Lenoir and Duplin), this species is clearly under-collected or overlooked, and certainly must occur in a number of other counties southward to the SC border. In addition, it has been recorded from many SC Coastal Plain counties north to the NC border.
NC to southern FL, west to TX and CA; Mex., C.A., S.A. | |
| Abundance | Seemingly rare, but exact abundance level not known. The NCNHP has placed the species on its Watch List in 2024. | |
| Habitat | Dry sandy soil of roadsides, fields, other disturbed sites. These are hardly rare or specialized habitats; thus, the species is probably under-collected and overlooked. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting June-October. | |
| Identification | Southern Sandspur differs from our other native species by having the main spines in a single whorl (vs. multiple whorls). From the alien C. americanus it differs by its short inflorescence (2.5-12 cm long vs. 4-20 cm long in that alien species). From alien C. brownii by its outer bristles much shorter than the inner spines (vs. equal or longer). | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
Sandspurs are notorious for their extremely strong and sharp spines which catch on clothing, fur, and skin alike. The spines actually are flattened and extremely hardened bristles borne at the base of each spikelet. There also is a second set of bristles just outside the spines and not hardened. Care must be taken with a dissecting scope to reach accurate identification. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | Southern Sandbur, Spiny Sandbur. NOTE: Some websites use "sandspur" and some use "sandbur" for the group common name for Cenchrus. In the Carolinas, at least, "sandspur" is much the more often used -- as do Weakley (2025) and RAB (1968) -- and thus the website editors are using that group common name. | |
| State Rank | S1S2 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | W7 | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | UPL link |
| USACE-emp | UPL link |
