[Plantoid]

After returning from holidays I started to catch up in the garden bed and found a " Boogerit plant ".

 I pulled my hand back and it was bleeding like mad from five or more puncture wounds off what I thought was a bit of 35 mm high fat hen .
I've tried loads of web sites and leaf ID sites & systems but cannot come up with a correct name .
 In three weeks it has grown from 35 mm to just over 300 mm , it has the makings of branches .

 Those thornes are goosegog type thornes and are at present about 20 mm long ..  they hurt that's for sure.
 
I have never ever seen a leaf like these.
 Here are my photo bucket pictures ... I'll also be posting on other sites and contacting Kew .. i might just have a new species of burglar deterrent .

 The planat has a waxy dark green evergreen look about it .. don't know where it came from or if it is UK winter hardy .

[colliewoman]

i'm usually great at plant id, but this ones got me beat
please do let us know if you get a positive ID

[tizaala]

If you feed wild bird seed it could be hemp ! ( canabis )

[deepinthewoods]

its not cannabis!

[Plantoid]

If you feed wild bird seed it could be hemp ! ( canabis )

    Not the wild bird seed  I used to grow  .

This has thorns 3/4 inch long and growing , plus the leaves are totally different .
 The stem is woody , quite solid like new gooseberry growth

[Fleecewife]

Does the plant smell unpleasant?  A few years ago a mystery plant appeared in my polytunnel.  I let it grow, as you do, just to see what it was.  Eventually it produced white trumpet-shaped flowers followed by weird fruit and I knew then what it was - Datura/Brugmansia or Thorn Apple, very poisonous.  It smelt horrible and grew to be taller than me, a complete thug, then lots of its friends appeared.  I have absolutely no idea where it came from as I don't live near any exotic gardens.
I am trying to remember if it looked at all like your plant, but I think it only had its thorns on the fruit itself.  The seeds looked exactly like chilli seeds.  I burnt every last leaf, twig and seed pod.

[colliewoman]

thorn apple was the first thing i checked, but its not the wild type for sure. datura/brugmansia dont have shiny leaves. but it could be a variant maybe??

[tizaala]

mutant thistle ?

[Plantoid]

I'm still non the wiser ..I have sent pictures to KEW to see if they will help in identifying the plant .
 
Someone suggested Sea Holly but to me that's a non starter for the leaves are quite different .
 
 It is the thorns coming out in threes that gets me , I've tried numerous plant ID sites and none  shows a leaf or thorn pattern like mine .

 The plant does not smell ......yet.  It is now almost 500 mm high

[Plantoid]

Kew no longer help in ID ' ing plants unless you cross their palms with silver as they are a private business.

They were very kind and  gave me the addy of the natural history museum , hidden away on their website  in nature plus is  an identification section for plants , trees , flora & fauna etc.

 The site is difficult to access on paupers village speeds but may well work better on a high speed internet connection .

 Here is the address  www.nhm.ac.uk     then go into the nature plus and sign up to them .

The plant is called .....   Xanthium spinosum or cockbur it is quite common all around the world inc UK , is an annual plant ,  toxic to animals  & is usually found in disturbed soil.

Alison reckons our garden is very disturbed just like its owner .  

I suspect the seed has lain dormant for years as the stock pile of earth used to rebuild the garden has been there for many years going back to around 1970


 If you interested bung "  Xanthium spinosum " into wikki for a wee bit more info

[colliewoman]

well done and thanks for letting us know. thats one i've not seen before!

[demonfarmer2630]

how long are the leaves?

[demonfarmer2630]

might be in the Atriplex family

[Penninehillbilly]

sounds a very unpleasant plant (Poisonous and contaminating fleeces). better not advertise it's babies as burglar deterrents 
I did think it looked interesting till I read about it.

[Plantoid]

Once I had the correct  name for the plant and found it was a half hardy annual here in the UK plus it being reasonably toxic it got the chop and was burnt .

WRT.  Being toxic ...... most evergreens are toxic to animals so becareful where you graze your stock.