Burdock
Family Name, English: Aster, Daisy
Family Name, Latin: Compositae, Asteraceae
Latin Game: Arcticum lappa
Common Names: Bardana, burr seed, clot burr, grass
burdock, hardock, happy major, hareburr, cockle-burr,
cuckakoo-button, wild gobo
Native American names: Skagit - “sticks to
everything”; Swinomish - “bad plant” (Gunther p.50)
Related Species: Arcticum minus, Arcticum pubens,
Arcticum tomentosum, also related to genus cousinia
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Body System Afilliations: (1) Nervous system, (2)
Respiratory system, (3) Digestive System, (4) skin,
(5) Cardio-vascular system
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Botanical Description:
Habitat: Herb, biennial
Size: Leaves are up to 45 cm long and plant grows to
be 3-4 ft in height
Arrangement: Basal
Leaves: Large, ovate, dark green and hairy on top,
greyish green underneith
Flowers: The florets are tubular and the flowerheads
themselves are 4 cm broad and pink to purple in color,
stamens are dark purple with white styles. The flowers
also have circular burrs around 3/4 inches thick that
are made up of stickers on the surface. They flowers
end in a “stiff spiny or hooked tip.”(Bisset.)
Fruit: Spiny, sticky and hooked enabling them to
latch onto things for dispersal. (Sineki, Gibbons)
Bark: Reddish, pithy stem with woolly branches
Twigs: See bark
Underground parts: Tubers
Personal observation/description:
(Graiger, Gibbons)
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Ecology:
Habitat: “It groweth commonly about towns and
villages, about ditches and highways and dunghills ans
such vile places.” (Turner). It is stated in many
sources that it will grow almost everywhere, mostly
often in disturbed areas and referr to it as a
door-yard weed. (Gerard, Gibbons)
Range: U.S., England, Eurasia
Native Where: Eurasia
Ecological Relationship: It’s considered a noxious
weed but is greatly used by herbalists and other
wilcrafters for its medicine and nourishment. It is
also valued highly in Asia and used in Chinese
Medicine (Wikipedia).
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Personal Obseervations of Locations Observed, Dates,
and Description of Plants: Unable to identify the
plant due to the season. One can barely make out the
wilted leaves drooping above ground.
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Western (European-American) Uses/Relationships:
Food: Not too much of a staple, however roots have
been known to be peeled and boiled twice, then
seasoned with butter and salt. The pith an also be
made into a confection by boiling, draining, and
boiling again in syrup made of 1/2 cup water, juice
and peel of 1 lemon and 1 cup sugar. Then it is
drained and rolled in granulated sugar. (Gibbons,
p.48) The stalk was known to be eated raw with salt
and peppeer in the middle ages, before the burrs had
developed on plant. (Gerard). Dandelion and Burdock
wine is also a tradtion amongst Europeans. (Sanecki)
Materials/Technology:Swiss inventor George de Mestral
created velcro after looking at the Burdock seeds
under a microscope to examine their ability to stick
together. (Wikipedia)
Medicine:
1. Part Used: Roots, termed Bardmae radix for
medical purposes (Grainger).
Medicinal Actions: Skin eruptions or vericose
veins, ringworm, clearning of stones, control
colic, cough, stomach ache.
Body System Associations: Liver, Digestive System,
Kidneys, Respiratory system
Applications: Decoction for skin eruptions and
vericose veins, poultice for ringworm (in Ireland),
stimulated kidneys to control colic but no application
found (Saneki), and taken with pinaple kernels for
cough (Turner).
Other: The roots are rich in iron
2. Part Used: Leaves
Medicinal Actions: Absorb fever, vericose veins and
skin erruptions, colic
Body System Associations: Liver, Cardio-vascular
system, Central nervous system
Applications: Leaves were bandaged to the patients
ankles and wrists pointed downward to absorb fever in
New England; African Americans in Missouri supposedly
cured colic in babies by hanging a necklace made of
burdock leaves around their babies necks; the leaves
can aslo be used in a decoction for clearing of the
blood and skin erruptions. (Sanecki)
3. Part Used: Seeds
Other: “Gypsies” fastened the seeds in a small bag
and wore it around their necks during the winter to
ward of rheumatism. (Sanecki)
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Indigenous and Non-Western Use/Significance/
Relationship:
Food: Not used by most Indigenous tribes in N.
America, considered introduced and termed by some the
“bad plant.” (Gunther) In Asia, however, Burdock is a
staple food and the roots are prepared (usually
stir-fried, or sauteed) with other vegetables.
(Wikipedia) The most common dish in Japan is called
Kimpira gobo which is made with burdock, carrots and
sesame seeds. (Consious Choice)
Materials/Technology: None
Medicine:
Indigenous Group/Nonwestern region: China
Part Used: Seeds
Medicinal Actions: Remove toxins in the case of
fevers and bad infections
Energetics: Cooling
Harvest: The roots should be dug up in the spring or
fall of the plants’ second year.
Storage: If fresh, store in the refrigerator, i
dried store it a ceramic or tinted glass jar.
(Parziale)
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Propogation:
Technique: Seeds sown 1/4 inch deep into soil,
preferrably rich in nitrogen.
Timing: Takes 6 to 10 days to germinate and
commercially are sown into the ground in August.
Personal Experience: None yet
(Parziale)
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Harvest:
1.Plant Part: Roots
Season of Harvest: In the fall of the first year
after a frost or in the spring of the second year.
Method of Harvest: N/A, dig up roots
Ecological Considerations of Harvest: The plant is
very abundant, however ecological awareness should
always be present when harvesting a plant.
Cultural considerations of Harvest: None
Cautions: None
2. Plant Part: Seeds
Season of Harvest: None
Method of Harvest: Collect seeds when mature
3. Plant Part: Leaves
Season of Harvest: spring
Method of Harvest: Young stalks, clipped from base
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Personal
Experience:
Food: I enjoy stir-frying gobo with carrots and
toasted sesame seeds above all, however it tastes
delicious when added to most vegetable stir-frys in my
experience.
Procurement: The Olympia Food Co-op.
Condition: Fresh
Cost: $3 - $4 per pound
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References Cited
1. Bisset, Norman Grainger. Herbal Drugs and
Phytopharmaceuticals. Stuttgart: Medapham Scientific
Publishers, 1994.
2. Gerard, John. The Herbal or General History of
Palnts. New York, New York: Dover Publications, Inc.,
1975 . (The original The Herball or Generall Histoire
of Plantes first published in 1633, London.)
3. Gibbons, Euell. Stalking the Wild Asparagus.
Pennsylvania: Alan C. Hood and Company, Inc., 1962.
4. Gunther, Erna. Ethnobotany of Western Washington.
Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1945.
5. Saneki, Kay N. The Complete Book of Herbs. New
York: Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc., 1974.
6. Turner, Chillian. A New Herball Parts II and III.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1568.
7. Wikipedia contributors, "Burdock," Wikipedia, The
Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Burdock&oldid=88962683 [0]"
target=_blank
>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Burdock&oldid=88962683 [1]
(accessed November 22, 2006).
8. Brockman, Terra. Burdock Root. Cooking with the
seasons, February 2001.Online at
<http://www.consciouschoice.com/2001/cc1402/cooking1402.html [1]"
target=_blank
>http://www.consciouschoice.com/2001/cc1402/cooking1402.html [2]>
9. Parziale, Ernestina, CH. Earth Notes Herb
Library. 2004-2005. Online at
<http://earthnotes.tripod.com/burdock_h.htm [2]" target=_blank
>http://earthnotes.tripod.com/burdock_h.htm [3]>