Burdock, Not Thistle

Posted on 10/16/2019 by chick
When I see this plant, I want to call it “thistle,” but I looked it up just to be certain, and I think it’s actually burdock. This makes sense, since I would refer to the prickly seedheads as “burs.” Thistle is a related plant (both are from the aster family), but it has prickles on it.
It’s amazing the things I don’t notice when I’m taking pictures, like the fact that this plant was covered in ants. What do you suppose the ants were up to?
This picture, taken in 2017 at a farm in New York, is how I think of this plant: in a wild, sunny field, a giant plant with scary-looking flower heads, but strangely pretty.

Interesting facts from the Wikipedia article on burdock:

  1. Burdock is native to Europe and Asia, not North America (I continue to be shocked by how many plants that grow here are not originally from here).
  2. Parts of it are supposedly edible and in some areas of East Asia it has its own culinary niche.
  3. In the UK, there’s a soft drink called “dandelion and burdock,” based on a traditional brew made from fermented dandelion and burdock roots.
  4. Burdock was the inspiration for the invention of Velcro.
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One Response to Burdock, Not Thistle

  1. Pingback: Flower Catalog | Blue-Footed Musings

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