Plant recognition: What is this?

Question

Image Link: http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t51/StefanCole/random%20stuff/plant.png

My son picked this on the way home from school. He has asked me to try to identify it for him, but I have no idea what it is.

It is growing wild, so I assume it's a wild flower or weed. The image shows about 5-6 inches of the plant. It grows up to maybe 12-18 inches, with small leaves, which I can't easily capture with my camera. The 'leaf' is long and thin, with 2 small leaflets (one on either side of the main leaf) near the stem. The leaf has no 'stalk' and has minute fine hairs.

If you are unable to identify it, then I would be happy to receive links to an on-line, easy to use plant recognition website. I have tried a couple without success.

Answer 1

I strongly believe it's a bur.

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=ht...

Answer 2

Looks like a thistle.

Answer 3

It appears to me that what your son picked isn't a flower, but a seed head.  This reminds me most of what the genus Avens produces.  Yours might be Geum canadense, based on the rest of your description:  http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symb...

The diagram in this link:  http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symb... of the related Geum virginianum has a better depiction of what the seed head looks like.  Also, some photos of Geum canadense from a web search:  http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/im...