Camden Council has treated more than 100 parks, sports fields and reserves, halting the spread of painful bindii prickles as well as clover.

BINDII is getting so bad in Centennial Park and Moore Park, one resident is pleading with the area’s management authority to let him spray it with chemicals.

There is no rose without thorns, the old saying goes. But to botanists, there is no rose with thorns: The spiky outgrowths of a rose stem are called “prickles,” and are biologically distinct ...

A new study has found how a rose and other plants like a tomato and eggplant came to get their prickles. The discovery could help engineer new thorn-free variants.

Prickles are derived from the epidermis of the plant, whereas true thorns are modified stems. Rose prickles defend the plant from herbivores and help the plant support itself on surrounding objects.

Getting food from a field to the table can sometimes be a prickly situation. Small, sharp projections known as prickles can be found on the leaves and stems of many plants, including some crops. But ...