COMPOSITE FAMILY 



COMPOSITAE 



COMMON BURDOCK 



Arctium minus Bernh. 



This commonest inhabitant of vacant lots and farm woods is 

 best known for its burs. The bur is the entire head and its bur 

 nature is due to the fact that the stiff bracts of the involucre 



have hooked tips. 

 These burs get 

 onto the tails of 

 cattle and become 

 so entangled that 

 it is almost im- 

 possible to get 

 them out. They 

 get into wool of 

 sheep an d the 

 only way to get 

 them out is to cut 

 or tear off some 

 of the wool. They 

 also get into the 

 fur of rabbits and 

 other animals and onto the clothing of man. In all these cases, 

 as the burs are carried about, the fruits are widely scattered. 

 Roots and leaves of this plant have been used in medicine. 



The Burdock is another immigrant from Europe which has 

 liked this country well enough to spread all over it. Indeed, it 

 is so common that most people pass by without ever stopping to 

 notice how pretty its flowers are. 



The plant usually grows 2-5 feet high and is much branched. 

 The lower leaves are sometimes i foot long, nearly as broad, and 

 are very veiny. They are usually heart shaped at the base, dark 

 green and smooth above, lighter and wholly hairy beneath, and 

 with stout hollow petioles that are not grooved. 



The flowers, blooming from July to November, have tubular 

 corollas some shade of purple, the color varying considerably in 

 difi^erent plants. Bracts of the involucre are smooth or slightly 

 cottony, the spines of the outer ones spreading but those ot 

 the inner erect and shorter than the flowers. The akenes are 

 oblong and somewhat flattened, and the pappus consists oi 

 numerous short bristles. 



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