Location of Burdock

Burdock a member of the thistle family. Originally, Burdock was native to Asia and Europe and has been naturalized in North America.    The whole plant is a dull, pale green.   This biennial plant is widespread throughout North America. It is a common pasture weed that prefers damp soils.   It will grow in almost any soil, but the roots are formed best in a light, well-drained soil.   It thrives by ditches and water-sides, and by the highways-- almost everywhere throughout North America except in the deep South.   It is a stout, common weed with many spreading branches, has long-stalked wedge-shaped leaves reminiscent of elephants’ ears, 2 feet long and 1 foot across, heart-shaped and of a grey color on their under surfaces from the mass of fine down with which they are covered.   The lower leaves are very large, on long, solid stalks, frequently more than a foot long, The upper leaves are much smaller, more egg-shaped in form and not so densely clothed beneath with the grey down. Burdock grows to a height of three to four feet in the second year. The stalks have round heads of purple to crimson flowers.    They are enclosed in a globular involucre of long stiff scales with hooked tips, the scales being also often interwoven with a white, cottony substance. The stem is erect, rigid, grooved, branched and downy. The fruits or ‘burs’ are known to cling to passing animals. The deep roots are brownish-green, or nearly black on the outside. The roots are the most important part of the plant used for medicine.   Look for Burdock in disturbed habitats, roadsides, vacant lots, and fields.   The seeds germinate readily and may be sown directly in the field, either in autumn or early spring, in drills 18 inches to 3 feet apart , sowing 1 inch deep in Autumn, but less in the Spring. When the young plants are well sprouted, they can be thinned out to 6 inches apart in the row.   Yields at the rate of 1,500 to 2,000 lb. of dry roots per acre have been obtained from plantations of Burdock. The basal rosette of leaves stays close to the ground the first year and the beginning of the second.   The dried root from plants of the first year's growth forms the official drug, but the leaves and fruits (commonly, though erroneously, called seeds) are also used.

Then, in mid-spring of year 2, a central flower stalk 2-9 feet tall arises.   Herbalists usually collect burdock leaves during the first year of growth, and harvest the roots in the fall of the first year after planting (or during the following spring before the flowers bloom).

The flowers resemble purple shaving brushes. Its purple flowers bloom between June and October.

The flower-heads are found expanded during the latter part of the Summer and well into the Autumn. All the florets are tubular, the stamens dark purple and the styles whitish.

The fruits that follow are brown globular burrs.   The plant owes its dissemination greatly to the little hooked prickles which adhere to all with which they come in contact, and by attaching themselves to coats of animals, or even people, they are often carried to a distance. After thus dispersing its seeds, this biennial dies.

The Burdock Root is approximately one inch wide and can grow up to three feet in height. Harvesting of Burdock Root should take place in the Autumn of the first year or during the Spring of the second year. If harvesting does not take place at that time, the Burdock plant will produce burrs.

As the Burdock grows freely in waste places and hedgerows, it can be collected in the wild state, and is seldom worth cultivating.

Though growing in its wild state, hardly any animal except the ass will browse on this plant. The stalks, cut before the flower is open and stripped of their rind, form a delicate vegetable when boiled, similar in flavor to Asparagus, and also make a pleasant salad, eaten raw with oil and vinegar. Formerly they were sometimes candied with sugar. They are slightly laxative, but perfectly wholesome.