Burweed vs Castor

Xanthium strumarium compared with Ricinus communis

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Burweed	Castor
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class same	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers)	Malpighiales (Malpighiales)
Family	Asteraceae (Daisy Family)	Euphorbiaceae
Genus	Xanthium	Ricinus
Species	Xanthium strumarium	Ricinus communis

Evolutionary Relationship

Burweed and Castor share a common ancestor at the Class level: Magnoliopsida. (Dicots)

Conservation Status

Burweed

NE — Not Evaluated

Castor

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Burweed	Castor
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Burweed

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (8 countries), Asia (15 countries), Europe (23 countries), North America (Canada, Dominican Republic, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, Papua New Guinea), and South America (Brazil, Chile, Colombia).

Castor

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, flooded grasslands and savannas, and montane grasslands and shrublands, among 7 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (33 countries), Asia (26 countries), Europe (23 countries), North America (15 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (14 countries), and South America (12 countries).

Burweed

The Burweed (Xanthium strumarium) is a species in the genus Xanthium. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Castor

The Castor (Ricinus communis) is a species in the genus Ricinus. Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, flooded grasslands and savannas, and montane grasslands and shrublands, among 7 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and hi

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 38 countries:

🇦🇺 Australia 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇧🇷 Brazil 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇨🇱 Chile 🇨🇴 Colombia 🇨🇩 Congo (DRC) 🇨🇾 Cyprus 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇷 Iran 🇮🇱 Israel 🇯🇵 Japan 🇱🇾 Libya 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇲🇬 Madagascar 🇲🇹 Malta 🇳🇦 Namibia 🇳🇵 Nepal 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇰 Pakistan 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇷🇴 Romania 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇿🇦 South Africa 🇪🇸 Spain 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇹🇼 Taiwan 🇹🇷 Turkey 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 🇺🇸 United States 🇾🇪 Yemen