Any health uses for goat's head, Russian thistle, foxtail or sandspur weeds?

shllnzl

We are working to eradicate the above weeds to protect ourselves and our pets, so thought I would check to see if there are any herbal uses for these plants.

I have been leaving the desert marigolds alone and now have the start of a flower garden that does not require any water.

VickiP

I spent my first twelve years in New Mexico and only knew Goatheads as painful and obnoxious weeds, but I did come up with some other info.

This is an old article from 2007 but interesting re Goatshead: http://newscenter.nmsu.edu/Articles/view/6504

Here is one about Russian Thistle AKA tumble weeds:

http://www.eattheweeds.com/salsola-kali-noxious-weed-nibble-green-2/

And one about sand spurs: http://www.eattheweeds.com/sandspurs-sandlot-sadists/

shllnzl

@Vicki Paull Thanks for the info, I will check it out.

shllnzl

@Vicki Paull I finally had time to check out your references and they are amazing! I bookmarked the eattheweeds website so I can check out other weeds that seem useless.

I don't know that I will eat these things though.😉

shllnzl

I have discovered that Goat's Head weeds are also known as Puncture Vines and can be used to control cholesterol levels. The seeds must be miserable to process but Doc Jones sells a tincture.