Puncture Vine

Puncture vine is the curse of bicyclists everywhere - if you pick up a thorn in a tire, it's almost certainly from this plant.

It's easier to avoid the thorns if you know what to watch out for, so I took these pictures of the vine in a typical context alongside a road. The vine often has small yellow flowers, although there were none on this one.

These photos were taken in June, in Los Altos Hills, CA.


A large vine at the side of a road.

A closer view, showing the vine approaching the edge of the paved surface.

Closer view of vine at edge of road.


A close-up of the thorns.