The cocklebur plant is a coarse herbaceous annual about 3 feet high. They have erect, stout stems and spreading branches that are angled and often red-spotted. The leaves are alternate, rough to the touch, and broadly triangular to heart-shaped.
Cockleburs produce two kinds of flowers.
It is covered with strong, hooked spines. This plant reproduces only by means of its seed. The seedling, the plant's most dangerous stage, is very different from the mature plant. It consists of a slender, straight whitish green stem 1 to 3 inches tall. Leaves produced after these first leaves gradually assume the characteristic shape of those of the mature plant.