#arctium

This week in Nantes: n°583 | Arctium, by Dalija Kaukenaite ↦ LTU

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Burdock flowers (Arctium) in late summer

Arctium, Asteraceae

I haven’t seen burdock in a long time, then suddenly two plants within a week, the only ones I’ve found since moving to Scotland. It didn’t help they both seem to share traits of A. lappa, greater burdock, and A. nemorosum, wood burdock, so for all I know they could have been hybrids of the two species, but I’m leaning towards them being the latter. All species of burdock are of Eurasian origin and have been introduced to and naturalised in many other temperate areas.  

These biennials with thistle-like flowers have a long history of cultivation as culinary plants, with young shoots, leaves, stems and roots all being edible, still particularly popular in Asian cuisine -the first year root is the vegetable known as gobō in Japan, but this part is the most consumed anywhere the plants grows. Here in the UK it is also part of a fizzy drink of Medieval origin called dandelion & burdock, which you can easily find in stores (but that I’m personally not particularly fond of, but I’m not a fan of fizzy drinks other than beer to be fair). The poulticed leaves are antibacterial and have been used against external sores, ulcers, swelling and insect bites, but the root is again the part most used for its medicinal properties. Fresh, or dried and made into a tea, it’s diuretic, depurative and detoxifying. It isn’t advisable to use this plant if you’re pregnant though, as it can cause complications.