Burdock
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Burdock is the common name for any of the thistles comprising the genus Arctium of the flowering plant family Asteraceae, characterized by globular, often pink or purplish flower heads surrounded by prickly bracts and with fruits in the form of rounded burrs with many seeds. Burdock is native to the Old World (Europe and Asia), but have been widely introduced worldwide.
The roots of burdock, among other plants, are eaten by the larva of the Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli). The plant is used as a food plant by other Lepidoptera including Brown-tail, Coleophora paripennella, Coleophora peribenanderi, The Gothic, Lime-speck Pug and Scalloped Hazel.
Overview and description
The genus Arctium, whose members are known as burdocks, belong to the family Asteraceae, known as the aster, daisy, or sunflower family. These dicotyledonous flowering plants, which also includes the dandelion and chrysanthemum, are known for their inflorescence or flower head: a densely packed cluster of numerous, small, individual flowers, usually called florets. Some other characteristics of members of Asteraceae include one ovule per ovary, stamens fused together at their edges forming a tube, fruit in the form of a achene, and the calyx (sepals) of the florets are modified to form a pappus, a tuft of hairs, which often appears on the mature fruit.
The genus Arctium belongs to a group of flowering plants known as thistles. Thistle is the common name for those plants (mostly in the plant family Asteraceae) characterized by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins.
Plants of the genus Arctium are typically biennials or perennials (Keil). The stems are erect and they have dark green leaves that are generally large, coarse, and ovate, with the lower ones being heart-shaped. The leaves are woolly underneath. Members of this genus may have leaves that grow up to 45 centimeters (18 inches) long. The leafstalks are generally hollow.
The composite flower heads often are purplish or pink. Arctium species generally flower from July through to October. The flower heads are surrounded by prickly bracts.
The flowers form a fruit that are roundish burrs. The prickly heads of these plants are noted for easily catching on to fur and clothing, thus providing an excellent mechanism for seed dispersal (Keil). Burrs cause local irritation and can possibly cause intestinal hairballs in pets. However, most animals avoid ingesting these plants.
A large number of species have been placed in genus Arctium at one time or another, but most of them are now classified in the related genus Cousinia. The precise limits between Arctium and Cousinia are hard to define; there is an exact correlation between their molecular phylogeny. The burdocks are sometimes confused with the cockleburs (genus Xanthium) and rhubarb (genus Rheum).
The green, above-ground portions may cause contact dermatitis in humans due to the lactones the plant produces.
Burdocks are native to the Old World, Europe and Asia, and a number of species have been widely introduced worldwide (Keil).
Uses
Food and drink
The taproot of young burdock plants can be harvested and eaten as a root vegetable. While generally out of favour in modern European cuisine, it remains popular in Asia, particularly in Japan where A. lappa (Greater burdock) is called gobō (牛蒡 or ゴボウ). Plants are cultivated for their slender roots, which can grow about 1 metre long and 2 cm across. Burdock root is very crisp and has a sweet, mild, and pungent flavour with a little muddy harshness that can be reduced by soaking julienne/shredded roots in water for five to ten minutes. Immature flower stalks may also be harvested in late spring, before flowers appear; the taste resembles that of artichoke, to which the burdock is related. A popular Japanese dish is kinpira gobō (金平牛蒡), julienned or shredded burdock root and carrot, braised with soy sauce, sugar, mirin and/or sake, and sesame oil; another is burdock makizushi (sushi filled with pickled burdock root; the burdock root is often artificially coloured orange to resemble a carrot). In the second half of the 20th century, burdock achieved international recognition for its culinary use due to the increasing popularity of the macrobiotic diet, which advocates its consumption. It also contains a fair amount of gobō dietary fiber (GDF, 6g per 100g), calcium, potassium, amino acids,[2] and is also low calorie. It also contains polyphenols that causes darkened surface and muddy harshness by formation of tannin-iron complexes though the harshness shows excellent harmonization with pork in miso soup (tonjiru) and Japanese-style pilaf (takikomi gohan).
Dandelion and burdock is a soft drink that has long been popular in the United Kingdom. Burdock is believed to be a galactagogue, a substance that increases lactation.
Italian Americans are known to use the peeled stems of the burdock. Referred to as "cardune", these stems are prepared in a battered frittata, a common dish on a Saint Joseph's Day table.
Traditional medicine
Folk herbalists consider dried burdock to be a diuretic, diaphoretic, and a blood purifying agent. The seeds of A. lappa are used in traditional Chinese medicine, under the name niupangzi (Chinese: 牛蒡子; pinyin: niúpángzi; Some dictionaries list the Chinese as just 牛蒡 niúbàng.)
Burdock is a traditional medicinal herb that is used for many ailments. Burdock root oil extract, also called Bur oil, is popular in Europe as a scalp treatment applied to improve hair strength, shine and body, help reverse scalp conditions such as dandruff, and combat hair loss. Modern studies [citation needed] indicate that Burdock root oil extract is rich in phytosterols and essential fatty acids (including rare long-chain EFAs), the nutrients required to maintain a healthy scalp and promote natural hair growth. It combines an immediate relieving effect with nutritional support of normal functions of sebaceous glands and hair follicles.
According to some European herbalists, combining Burdock root oil with a Nettle root oil and massaging these two oils into the scalp every day has a greater effect than Bur oil alone. [citation needed]
Burdock has been used for centuries as a blood purifier clearing the bloodstream of some toxins, and as a diuretic (helping rid the body of excess water by increasing urine output), and as a topical remedy for skin problems such as acne, eczema, rosacea and psoriasis.
Burdock and Velcro
After taking his dog for a walk one day in the early 1940s, George de Mestral, a Swiss inventor, became curious about the seeds of the burdock plant that had attached themselves to his clothes and to the dog's fur. Under a microscope, he looked closely at the hook-and-loop system that the seeds use to hitchhike on passing animals aiding seed dispersal, and he realised that the same approach could be used to join other things together. The result was Velcro.
Tolstoy
The Russian writer Leo Tolstoy wrote in his journal, in 1896, about a tiny shoot of burdock he saw in a ploughed field, “black from dust but still alive and red in the center … It makes me want to write. It asserts life to the end, and alone in the midst of the whole field, somehow or other had asserted it.”
Species
- Arctium lappa : Greater Burdock, Gobō
- Arctium minus : Lesser Burdock, Burweed, Louse-bur, Button-bur
- Arctium minus nemorosum (=Arctium vulgare) : Woodland Burdock, Wood Burdock
- Arctium pubens : Common Burdock
- Arctium tomentosum : Downy Burdock, Woolly Burdock
Safety
Because the roots of burdock closely resemble those of Deadly nightshade (also known as belladonna or Atropa belladonna), there is a risk that burdock preparations may be contaminated with these potentially dangerous herbs. Be sure to buy products from established companies with good reputations. Do not gather burdock in the wild unless you know what you are doing.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- ↑ tribe Cynareae. Flora of North America. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
- ↑ nikkeibp.co.jp
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=102484 FNA | Family List | FNA Vol. 19, 20 and 21 | Asteraceae
16. Arctium Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 816. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 357. 1754. David J. Keil Flora of North America [1]
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