Asteraceae FAMILY

Arctium lappa

Edibility

4/5

Medicinal

5/5

Safety & Hazards

Care should be taken if harvesting the seed in any quantity since tiny hairs from the seeds can be inhaled and these are toxic[ 205 Title Hemerocallis. Day Lilies. Publication Author Erhardt. W. Publisher Batsford. Year 1992 ISBN 0-7134-7065-8 Description A comprehensive book on the species with a short section on their uses. ].

Botanical Description

Arctium lappa is a herbaceous, biennial plant that can grow up to 2 metres tall when flowering. The plant produces a rosette of basal leaves and a deep, stout taproot in its first year of growth, sending up a tall flowering stem in its second year. Burdock is a very important medicinal herb in both Eastern and Western traditions and is also often used as a food. Commonly harvested from the wild, it is also often cultivated for medicinal use and, especially in Japan, for its edible root, The plant has been spread through human agency to many temperate areas of the globe, including Australia and N. America.

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate

Native RangeEurope - Norway to Spain, through most of Europe and temperate Asia to the Caucasus, Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Nepal and China

HabitatWaste ground, preferring calcareous soils[ 7 Title Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. Publication Author Chiej. R. Publisher MacDonald Year 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5 Description Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs. ], it is sometimes also found in meadows and woods[ 9 Title Edible and Medicinal Plants. Publication Author Launert. E. Publisher Hamlyn Year 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2 Description Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information. ]. Near villages, roadsides, near rivers, wet and waste places, forest margins, thickets, valleys, slopes; at elevations from 700 - 3,500 metres[ 266 Title Flora of China Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ Publisher Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. Year 1994 ISBN Description An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available. ].