Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Common Burdock
Arctium minus
Aster family (Asteraceae)

This native of Europe is now established across the United States. The burrs are well-known to dog owners as they become deeply ensnared in an animal's coat. Burdock is considered one of the foremost "detoxifying" in herbal medicine. The Great Burdock (A. lappa) has larger, flowerheads. The Common Cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium) is another large burr-producing plant, though its burrs are to a -like seed case.


©2010 Barry Breckling

Description

Large-leaved non-native , 3-8' tall, with pink-purple round burr-like flowerheads borne in leaf axils or at end of branches. Flowerheads comprised of only disk flowers amid overlapping with narrow inward-pointing hooks. , egg- to heart-shaped, broadest at the leaf base. First-year plant is a of large thick-hairy leaves. Second year growth is an erect, many-branched stem. are enclosed in prickly brown burrs.

Field Marks

Large egg- or heart-shaped leaves with round spiny flower or seed head.

© Al Schneider

fused means joined together.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

a hard, dry fruit containing only one seed that does not open at maturity.

Bracts are modified leaves associated with a flower.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

stalk -- The supporting structure of an organ. Examples of stalks are stem, peduncle, petiole, ...

cordate -- heart-shaped.
subcordate -- somewhat heart-shaped.

leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

rosette -- usually a dense cluster of leaves at the base of a plant.