I don't have a photo of the entire plant because all we have now are these nasty stickers in several locations; the plants are all dried up. I'm hoping someone might be familiar with it, so that next spring we can eradicate the weeds before they develop these stickers! This is in Northeast Washington, near the Canadian border.

I'm not good at comparing photos so this is just a guess but could it be Cenchrus longispinus?

http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/detail....
http://www.illinoiswildflowers...
http://missouriplants.com/Gras...

Mmmm, don't think it's that one. Here's another photo that shows the distribution of the stickers on a short section of stem. This is pretty much what they all look like. There's about 2 inches or so of bare stem between each small cluster of stickers.

Another guess: Prickly Russian Thistle (Salsola tragus)
http://www.bing.com/images/sea...

There is definitely a similarity. And we do have tumbleweeds growing in one of the fields. Perhaps a relative. Heh, maybe what I should do is plant some of the seeds and see what the plant looks like!

Puncturevine (Tribulus terrestris) currently has no database photos but it could definitely be a possibility:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
http://www.bing.com/images/sea...
http://www.bing.com/images/sea...

Oh my, that could very well be my little nasty! Unfortunately, the foliage looks very like some shrubs we have growing outside the fence line, so they could easily sneak in without being noticed. I think I WILL try sprouting some of the seeds just to see. Heh, and then I can BURN them! Pluck their little leaves off slowly, one by one...oops, never mind.

Looks like goat heads or puncture weed to me. Do they get little yellow flowers? We get them occasionally here in N. central WA. Easily eradicated by hand pulling if caught early. They will go right through a pair of flip flops or a bicycle tire. I find them sometimes when walking barefoot.

Well, that's my problem. I don't know yet for sure what the plant looks like. But I definitely have found things growing that look like the Tribulus terrestris in my rose bed. I yanked them out thinking it was the shrubs out front being fruitful and multiplying and I don't like them either! I'm going to put a few seeds in a pot and see what comes up. Stay tuned.

Thanks for those links, Lin! And if these turn out to be those, I'll have an entry for the database!

Paul2032 and lauribob both live in your part of the country so they are familiar with what grows in the area. I'd say their suggestions of Puncture Weed/Goathead (Tribulus terrestris) may well be your plant in question!

Well, this is going to be a little trickier than just stuffing the seeds in a pot. There are areas where people actually cultivate this stuff and all the sites recommend chilling the seeds for 1 to 3 months, that fresh seeds rarely germinate. Grrr...

I agree with Lauribob and Paul that goats head is your likely culprit. Watch for your animals limping - these seem to be a magnet for my dog whenever I'm on the dry side, easy enough to pluck them out, but yikes, they are painful.

The dried up plants are rather short, only about 12 inches, but they do sprawl about. The growth pattern doesn't quite look like the goats head, but the stickers surely do! My DH has been finding them in the ponies' manes, too, and I've found one or two on my VERY fuzzy malamute. Eradication is definitely in order. We're going to have to find where the ponies are getting them and probably hit it with the weed burner, if it's safe. Fortunately, the areas where the dogs go are mostly free of nasties.

WHY would anyone grow that stuff on purpose?!

That's a pretty interesting looking sticker you have there. I don't know what it is, but do know that it's not any of the things that have been suggested so far (I'm intimately familiar with all three of them). Sorry.

Guess I had better leave this to the experts from now on

Kent,what makes you rule out goats head?