COMPOSITAE — THISTLE FAMILY — BURDOCK 797 



and after blooming disappears except a few of the root leaves. The stinking 

 Willie (S. Jacobaea) is naturalized in the east and of course may be respon- 

 sible for the Pictou disease. 



26. Arctium L,. Burdock 



Large coarse biennial, rough or pubescent herbs ; leaves broad, alternate and 

 petioled; heads large, recemose, corymbose or paniculate; flowers purple or 

 white; all tubular perfect and similar; involucre globular; the scales imbricated; 

 lanceolate, tipped with hooked points; receptacle flat, bristly; achenes oblong, 

 somewhat compressed and 3-angled and wrinkled; pappus short, of numerous 

 short bristles. 



A small genus of S or 6 species in the old world. The root of the common 

 burdock is used in medicine, while in Japan it is also used for food. 



Arctium Lappa L. Burdock 



A coarsely branched biennial from 1-3 feet high, hairy; leaves large, round- 

 ish or heart-shaped, thin obtuse, entire or dentate, floccose tomentose beneath; 

 petioles deeply furrowed; heads of purplish or whitish flowers, clustered or 

 somewhat corymbose; the involucre lengthened into hooked tips, glabrous or 

 slightly cottony. 



Distribution. Common from New Brunswick westward in the Canadian 

 provinces in Canada, southward to Alabama, general in the Mississippi Valley, 

 Rocky Mountain region, and Utah. 



Poisonous and injurious properties. Where the burdocks are allowed to 

 grow freely the burs cling to the fleece of animals, often forming large balls 

 which may be found on the tails of cattle and horses. When they are common 

 where sheep pasture, the burdocks work into the wool which soon becomes of 

 little value. Formerly burdock was used medicinally more than it is at the 

 present time. The root has diuretic properties. Dr. Johnson gives the chief 

 njedical properties as follows : 



Burdock, though chiefly used by the laity, is highly esteemed by some of the profession as 

 a diuretic and alterative. It is, perhaps, more frequently used in rheumatism than in any 

 other disease, but is also recommended in chronic cutaneous diseases, catarrhal affections, 

 syphilis, and scrofula. In the form of an ointment or liniment it is used as an application to 

 bums, ulcers, etc. 



Some forms of the burdock are used for food; the young stems when stripped of their 

 rind may be eaten raw or boiled, or in a pottage with vinegar. 



27. Cirsium (Tourn.) Hill. Thistle 



Perennial, annual or biennial, erect, branched or simple, herbs; leaves 

 sessile, alternate, often pinnatifid, prickly; heads usually large, many flowered, 

 solitary or clustered; heads discoid, flowers purple, yellow or white, tubular, 

 perfect and fertile or dioecious; involucre ovoid or globose, scales imbricated 

 in many rows, often glutinous, tipped with a prickle or unarmed; receptacle 

 flat or convex, bristly; corolla tube slender, the limb deeply cleft; anthers sag- 

 ittate at the base; style elongated, branches short or obtuse, unappendaged, 

 often with a pubescent ring below; achenes obovate or oblong compressed or 

 obtusely four-angled, glabrous, often ribbed; pappus plumose or minutely 

 serrulate. 



