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Woolly Burdock

Woolly Burdock

Arctium tomentosum

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How common: Very common

Alien species

Woolly Burdock is a big, stout biennial of the daisy family that thrives on disturbed, nutrient‑rich ground. It bears purple, thistle‑like heads wrapped in a pale, cobwebby felt and later forms hooked burrs that cling to fur and clothes. It is widespread across Eurasia and has been introduced elsewhere.

Did you know?

  • The cups under the flower heads are often covered in a pale, cobweb‑like felt that gives the plant a greyish look.
  • It hybridizes with Greater and Lesser Burdock, so some plants can show mixed features.

About the species

Identification

Stout biennial, 50–150 cm tall, with a grooved, often branched stem. Leaves large on clear stalks, broadly oval with a heart‑shaped base; green above but densely white and woolly underneath; stalks and stems short‑hairy. Flower heads 1.5–3 cm wide, purple, in loose branched clusters. Each sits in a spiny cup whose tips hook and stick to fur; the cup is usually covered in pale cobwebby hairs, giving a grey look. Compared to other burdocks, the grey, cobwebby cups and very white leaf undersides are the best clues. Flowers in July–September.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

yards and roadsides

Flowering

Jul–Sep

About the habitat

Grows on nutrient‑rich, human‑influenced sites such as waste ground, roadsides, field edges, meadows and yards. Common in southern Finland; absent from eastern and northern Lapland.

Sources

Photo: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arctium tomentosum - Kulna.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki leviäimet, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39871

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki versot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39871

Text: Pinkka: Laaja maatalouslajintuntemus 4 op - Koppisiemeniset, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39871

Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39871

Text: Pinkka: IPS-177 Fennoscandian flora - Acer-Butomus, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39871

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seittitakiainen

See also