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grande bardane, great burdock, greater burdock

bardane tomenteuse, cotton burdock, woolly burdock, woolly burrdock

Habit Plants to 100–300 cm. Plants to 250 cm.
Basal leaves

petioles solid, 15–36 cm, glabrous or thinly cobwebby;

blades 25–80 × 20–70 cm, coarsely dentate to subentire, abaxially thinly gray-tomentose, adaxially green, sparsely short-hairy to nearly glabrous.

petioles hollow or solid, 10–15 cm, glandular-hairy;

blades 30–40 × 16–28 cm, coarsely dentate to subentire, abaxially white-tomentose, adaxially green, sparsely short-hairy.

Peduncles

2.5–6 cm.

1.5–12 cm.

Involucres

25–45 mm diam.

15–25 mm diam., densely cobwebby (rarely glabrate).

Florets

40+;

corollas purple (occasionally white), 9–14 mm, glabrous.

30+;

corollas rose-purple, (occasionally white), 9–13 mm, limb minutely glandular.

Phyllaries

linear to linear-lanceolate, glabrous to loosely cobwebby, inner usually stramineous (sometimes purplish), margins with minute spreading or reflexed hairs.

linear to linear-lanceolate, inner usually purplish, margins with minute spreading or reflexed glandular hairs.

Heads

usually in corymbiform clusters, long-pedunculate.

usually in corymbiform clusters, long-pedunculate.

Cypselae

light brown, often with darker spots, 6–7.5 mm;

pappus bristles 2–5 mm.

light brown, 5–8 mm;

pappus bristles 1–3 mm.

2n

= 32 (Japan), 34 (China), 36 (Japan); (Sweden).

= 36.

Arctium lappa

Arctium tomentosum

Phenology Flowering summer–early fall (Jul–Oct). Flowering summer–early fall (Jul–Oct).
Habitat Waste places, roadsides, fields, forest clearings Waste places, roadsides, fields, forest clearings
Elevation 0–2200 m (0–7200 ft) 0–1600 m (0–5200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AZ; CA; CO; CT; IL; MA; ME; MI; MN; ND; NH; NV; NY; PA; RI; UT; VT; WA; WI; AB; BC; MB; NB; ON; QC; SK; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; CT; MA; ME; MN; MO; ND; NH; OH; SD; VT; AB; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

BONAP lists Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, and Wyoming; I have not seen specimens.

Roots and young leaves of Arctium lappa are edible and can be used in a variety of food preparations. Extracts of Arctium species purportedly have health benefits and are sold as food supplements. This species is sometimes cultivated as a minor crop.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Arctium tomentosum has been reported from Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin; I have not seen specimens.The involucres of Arctium tomentosum are usually very densely cobwebby.

Exceptional forms of A. tomentosum have nearly glabrous involucres. Forms of A. minus with especially cobwebby involucres have been misidentified as A. tomentosum; they lack the corymbiform capitulescence and glandular corollas of the latter.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 19, p. 169. FNA vol. 19, p. 169.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Cardueae > Arctium Asteraceae > tribe Cardueae > Arctium
Sibling taxa
A. minus, A. tomentosum
A. lappa, A. minus
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 816. (1753) Miller: Gard. Dict. ed. 8, Arctium no. 3. (1768)
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