Above: Burdock at edge of arboretum woods on Arbor Drive. (7/10/22).
Common Burdock - Arctium minus (Introduced - naturalized; ecologically invasive)
Common Burdock is a weedy, biennial wildflower belonging to the Aster family. It has light pink/lavendar to deep violet "thistle-like" flower heads clustered at the tips of branches. Flowers are 1/2" to 3/4" wide.
Common Burdock likes full or partial sun and grows from 1 1/2 - 5 feet tall in disturbed area like roadsides, ditch banks, stream banks, old fields and other waste places. It is considered invasive in Wisconsin and should be eradicated!
Above: Common Burdock stem and leaves at edge of arboretum woods on Arbor Drive on July 10, 2022.
Above: Burdock leaf along Bike Path between Odana Road and Midvale Blvd on July 19, 2022. This could be a Greater Burdock leaf but the flowers are more like Common Burdock. Common Burdock basel leaves are broadly heart-shaped with rounded tips and have long hollow stalks, wavy edges. They can be up to 2 feet long and over a foot wide. At a glance, Burdock leaves resemble rhubarb; however, rhubarb leaves are glossy, while burdock leaves are matte and somewhat fuzzy on the underside.
For more information on Common Burdock (Arctium minus), visit Wikipedia.
For more information on Greater Burdock (Arctium lappa), visit Wikipedia.
Or, visit the UW-Madison Wisconsin State Herbarium website page about Common Burdock.
Or, visit the UW-Madison Wisconsin State Herbarium website page about Greater Burdock.
Or, download the USDA Forest Service "Weed of the Week" website page about Common Burdock.
Burdock
Arctium minus
Arctium lappa
Above: Burdock at edge of arboretum woods on Arbor Drive on July 1, 2022.
Above: Burdock at edge of arboretum woods on Arbor Drive on July 11, 2022.
Above: Burdock at edge of arboretum woods on Arbor Drive on July 1, 2022.
Above: Burdock at edge of arboretum woods on Arbor Drive on July 10, 2022.
Above: Burdock at edge of arboretum woods on Arbor Drive on July 13, 2022.
Above: Burdock at edge of arboretum woods on Arbor Drive on July 21, 2022.
Above: Burdock foraging video with Chef Shawn Adler from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC Life). You want first year growth.
Above: 1913 Common Burdock (Arctium minus) line drawing.
Above: 1913 Greater Burdock (Arctium lappa) line drawing.
Above: Greater Burdock (Arctium lappa) botanical illustration circa 1832.
Above: Common Burdock (Arctium minus) botanical illustration circa 1796.
Above: Common Burdock (Arctium minus) botanical illustration circa 1885.
Above: Burdock Flower Children by Elizabeth Gordon with illustration by M. T. (Penny) Ross.