Cenchrus tribuloides, the dune sandbur, is a grass common along the east coast of the mainland United States as well as Hawaii.

[2] In the United States, the dune sandbur is native to Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

[1] It can also be found natively in Brazil, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico.

It is an annual plant, and easily recognized by the densely hairy cup-like burs that, including spines, are 10–15 mm wide.

[5] Reproduction occurs through epizoochory, by both waterborne transportation or by being dispersed by animals that the sandbur clings to.