NAT. ORDER. 



CompositCB. 



ARCTIUM LAPPA. BURDOCK. 



Class XIX. Syngenesia. Order I. Poltgamia Moxkhis. 



Gen. Char. Receptacle chaffy. Calyx globular; llie scales at the 

 apex with inverted hooks. Seed-down bristly, chaffy. 



Spe. Char. Leaves cordate, costate, coriaceous. 



The Burdock is a biennial plant, with a long tapering root, from 

 twelve to eighteen inches in length, dark brown externally, but white 

 and spongy within, having withered scales near the top ; the stem is 

 branching, pubescent, succulent, and two or three feet in height, 

 having very large leaves, which are dark green upon their upper sur- 

 face, and stand on long footstalks ; the Jloiccrs are globose, purple, 

 and arranged in panicles ; the imbricated calyx consists of scales with 

 extremities that are hooked, by which they attach themselves to cloth 

 and the coats of animals ; the down of the seed is prickly and rough ; 

 the bur is many-seeded, and the seeds are quadrangular. 



This plant is a native of the United States, growing in many 

 places in great abundance, in pastures, fields, along the road-side, and 

 in cultivated grounds ; it flowers in July and August ; the root should 

 be dug in the spring, before the leaves start, or in the fall after the 

 top is dead, as then it possesses the full strength of the entire plant ; 

 the odor of the root is weak and unpleasant ; the taste is mucilaginous 

 and sweetish bitter, with a slight degree of astringency ; the seeds 

 contain essential oil, and are aromatic, bitterish, and somewhat acrid. 



Medical Properties and Uses. The root, which is principally 



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