Arctium minus, commonly known as lesser burdock, little burdock, louse-bur, common burdock, button-bur, cuckoo-button, or wild rhubarb,USDA PLANTS information is a biennial plant native to Europe.
Description Arctium minus is a biennial plant growing up to tall and form multiple branches. It is large and bushy. The leaves are up to long and ovate. The lower leaves are heart-shaped and have very wavy margins. Leaves are dark green above and woolly below. It grows an extremely deep taproot, up to into the ground.John W. Thieret, William A. Niering, and Nancy C. Olmstead. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region, Revised edition. Chanticleer Press, Inc, 2001. Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal, and Joseph M. Ditomaso. Weeds of the Northeast. Cornell University Press, 1997. The plant produces flowers in its second year of growth, from July to October. The flowers are prickly and pink to purple in color. The flower heads are about wide, surrounded by a cluster of bracts. The outer bracts end in hooks causing a hook-and-loop effect after the flower head dries, when the bracts will attach to humans and animals to transport the seedhead.
The flowers resemble and can be easily mistaken for thistles, but burdock can be distinguished by its extremely large leaves and its hooked bracts.
Distribution and habitat The plant is native to Europe,Altervista Flora Italiana, Lappola bardana minore Arctium minus (Hill) Bernh. includes photos plus European distribution map but has become introduced elsewhere such as Australia, North and South America, and other places.Flora of North America, Vol. 19, 20 and 21 Page 170 Common or lesser burdock, petite bardane, cibourroche, chou bourache, bourrier, Arctium minus (Hill) Bernhardi, Syst. Verz. 154. 1800. Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution mapMarticorena, C. & M. Quezada. 1985. Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Chile. Gayana, Botánica 42: 1–157Atlas of Living Australia
Uses The leafstalks (up to a year old), leaves, and flower stalks can be eaten raw or cooked. The roots are edible boiled with a change of water, though become too woody to eat in plants over a year old. The leaves can also be used to make herbal tea.
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