Cenchrus spinifex
Cav. · speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Cenchrus spinifex's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation3 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility4 764 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI13 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics33 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Cenchrus spinifex, known commonly as the common sandbur, coastal sandbur, or stickerweed, is a perennial grass that grows from 5 to high in sandy or gravelly terrain. It is native to the southern United States southward into Mexico and the Caribbean. It has been introduced elsewhere in the United States and in the Philippines and South Africa. It is a noxious weed in Europe. The grass produces a bur, a type of grain fruit, consisting of eight to forty sharp, barbed spines that lodge in clothes, exposed feet, and fur.Cenchrus spinifex. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. 2008.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology8
Life cycle & reproduction9
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment12
Physiology & chemistry2
Other traits1
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Cenchrus spinifex has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Cenchrus spinifex carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 347×CCDB · ita-fl · CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · book-ipcn67-71 +2
n 172×CCDB · book-ipcn73-74 · CCDB · Cave1963
n 141×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl
diploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type4 764 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions64 of 101 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Tampa, US | 142 |
| Austin, US | 139 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 129 |
| Fort Worth, US | 116 |
| Albuquerque, US | 81 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 66 |
| Brisbane, AU | 55 |
| BIO-UNIPIlocation not on record | 52 |
| Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record | 51 |
| San Diego, US | 41 |
| Córdoba, AR | 40 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 39 |
| Texas Lutheran Universitylocation not on record | 33 |
| Mount Annan, AU | 32 |
| Flagstaff, US | 32 |
| EL PASO, US | 26 |
| Bangkok, TH | 21 |
| Bloomington, US | 20 |
| Canberra, AU | 19 |
| Davis, US | 18 |
| Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record | 18 |
| US | 17 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 17 |
| BAYLUlocation not on record | 16 |
| Helsinki, FI | 16 |
| San Isidro, AR | 16 |
| GAlocation not on record | 15 |
| Moscow State Universitylocation not on record | 14 |
| Saint Louis, US | 13 |
| Valdosta State Universitylocation not on record | 13 |
| Claremont, US | 12 |
| BDBClocation not on record | 12 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 11 |
| Bronx, US | 11 |
| Jackson, US | 11 |
| Phoenix, US | 9 |
| Armidale, AU | 8 |
| Adelaide, AU | 8 |
| Auckland, NZ | 7 |
| Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record | 7 |
| San Luis Obispo, US | 6 |
| Columbia, US | 6 |
| Riverside, US | 6 |
| València, ES | 6 |
| Logan, US | 5 |
| Mississippi State, US | 5 |
| Tall Timbers Research Stationlocation not on record | 5 |
| Hobart, AU | 4 |
| The University of Arizonalocation not on record | 4 |
| Corrientes, AR | 4 |
| AUAlocation not on record | 4 |
| San Angelo, US | 4 |
| DOI/NPS, Greenbelt Parklocation not on record | 4 |
| NSW Dept of Planning, Industry and Environmentlocation not on record | 4 |
| Clemson, US | 3 |
| Provo, US | 3 |
| Durango, US | 3 |
| Hermosillo, MX | 3 |
| Mlocation not on record | 3 |
| St. Paul, US | 3 |
| La Paz, MX | 3 |
| Tuscaloosa, US | 3 |
| Chapel Hill, US | 2 |
| Kensington, AU | 2 |
| Millersville, US | 2 |
| Mexico City, MX | 2 |
| GB | 2 |
| Irvine, US | 2 |
| Musee des Dinosaures d'Esperaza (Aude)location not on record | 2 |
| University of Southern Mississippilocation not on record | 2 |
| Miami, US | 2 |
| Little Rock, US | 2 |
| Dekalb, US | 2 |
| BClocation not on record | 2 |
| University of New Hampshirelocation not on record | 2 |
| John T. Waterhouse Herbariumlocation not on record | 2 |
| Bern, CH | 1 |
| Smithfield, AU | 1 |
| University of Montenegrolocation not on record | 1 |
| Moscow, US | 1 |
| Mazatlán, MX | 1 |
| Madison, US | 1 |
| Russellville, US | 1 |
| Universidade Federal de Pelotaslocation not on record | 1 |
| USFSlocation not on record | 1 |
| SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record | 1 |
| MAlocation not on record | 1 |
| DOI/NPS, Selma to Montgomery National Historic Traillocation not on record | 1 |
| New Brunswick, US | 1 |
| LDlocation not on record | 1 |
| Fayetteville, US | 1 |
| San Diego Natural History Museum, Herbariumlocation not on record | 1 |
| BRNUlocation not on record | 1 |
| GBS RAN - Glavny Botanichesky Sad Rossijskoj Akademii Nauklocation not on record | 1 |
| LINUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Lord Fairfax Community Collegelocation not on record | 1 |
| Denton, US | 1 |
| Denver, US | 1 |
| Stephenville, US | 1 |
| Palmerston, AU | 1 |
| Paris, FR | 1 |
Where the DNA of Cenchrus spinifex was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.