Burrs Identified

Dublin Core

Title

Burrs Identified

Subject

battle, Battle of Bannockburn (1314), burrs, Calthorp plant, Cunderdin, Edward II, medieval warfare, medieval weaponry, noxious weed, plant, Robert the Bruce, warfare, weapon

Description

Responding to an enquiry about an unusual plant specimen found in Cunderdin in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australian, the author of this article identifies the burrs and leaves as part of a Caltrop plant. The Caltrop plant was so named, it explains, because of its likeness to the spiky metal balls that were sown into the ground during medieval warfare to cripple the enemy. The Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 is cited as an example where caltrops were successfully used as weapons by Robert the Bruce’s Scottish army to debilitate their opponents, the English army of Edward II.

Creator

M.

Source

National Library of Australia

Publisher

Western Mail

Date

12 April 1951, p.8

Rights

Western Mail

Format

Newspaper Article

Language

English

Document Item Type Metadata

Original Format