|
 An
Illustrated Guide to
Common Weeds
of New Zealand
Arctium
minus
burdock
Family
ASTERACEAE
Reproduced from
Common
Weeds of New Zealand
by Bruce Roy, Ian Popay, Paul Champion, Trevor James & Anis
Rahman
ISBN 0 473 09760 5
by kind permission of the
New
Zealand Plant Protection Society
Publication or other use of images or descriptive
text on these pages is unauthorised unless written permission is
obtained from the authors and publisher. Appropriate acknowledgement
of the publication Common Weeds of New Zealand must always
be given.
Available from Manaaki-Whenua
Press and Touchwood
Books
Upright, open-branched,
shrubby perennial up to 1.5 m tall with large leaves and a large,
egg-shaped flower head surrounded by hooks that cling to clothes
or wool.
- Flowers
Flower head thistle-like, reddish-purple, egg-shaped, up to 2
x 3 cm. The bracts surrounding the flower head carry hooks that
cling to clothes and wool. Flowers Jan-Apr.
- Fruit
The 5-7 mm long achenes (seeds), with pappus ('thistle-down')
up to 3.5 mm long, remain in the bur-like seed heads until they
are caught on animals or clothing.
- Leaves
Hollow-stalked, triangular basal leaves up to 40 cm long by 30
cm wide. Green and sparsely hairy on the upper surface, white
and densely downy underneath. Base of leaves heart-shaped.
- Stems
Sparsely to densely hairy, rarely hairless or mealy, grooved.
Habitat
Forest margins, scrub,
creek beds, pasture, sheep-yards, gardens and waste places.
Distribution
Occasional throughout
NI and SI except for Westland. Originally from Europe and west
Asia.
Comments
Young, cooked flowering
stems can be used as a vegetable, and the small green shoots of
young plants can be eaten. Burdock root has a reputation as a
general herbal remedy. Subject to Pest Plant Management Strategies
in several regions of NZ. Details are available from individual
regional councils or unitary authorities.
Related
and similar species
Arctium lappa,
with larger, longer-stalked flowers and solid stalked lower leaves,
occurs in similar habitats, restricted to Morrinsville in the
Waikato and found in scattered sites in Canterbury and Otago.
In Japan, the roots are used as a vegetable (gobo). Winter heliotrope
(Petasites fragrans) has large basal leaves, but these
are kidney-shaped, and its flower heads are similar to burdock
but do not form burs. It occurs in waste places, along stream-sides
and under trees, usually in wet areas, mostly in southern SI,
but also in Palmerston North and Auckland.
Derivation
of botanical name
Arctium (Gr.)
= mullein; minus (Lat.) = smaller.
Web-notes:
Weed Links
On this site
Reproduced from Common Weeds
of New Zealand:
External Links
 Weedbusters
New Zealand
- Weedbusters is a weeds awareness and education programme that aims to
protect New Zealand's environment from the increasing weed problem.
 New
Zealand Plant Conservation Network Weeds Fact Sheets
- Search for 1500 weed fact sheets mainly derived from the Department of
Conservation's BIOWEB weeds database.
 New
Zealand Plant Protection Society
- Their main objective: "To pool and exchange information on the biology
of weeds, invertebrate and vertebrate pests, pathogens and beneficial organisms
and methods for modifying their effects."
-
 New
Zealand Landcare Trust
- Plant Pest information including Pictures, Distribution Maps, References,
Environmental Effects and Control.
-
- New
Zealand Aquatic Weeds
- Hosted by the weed management group of NIWA (National Institute of Water
and Atmospheric Research).
-
- Weed
Control Manual for the Bay of Plenty
- Weeds information compiled by Environment Bay of Plenty.
-
 Massey
University Weeds Database- A site providing information about New Zealand weeds and weed control.
It has a series of pages showing pictures of New Zealand weeds, notes on
identification and control. It also provides information on a university
paper entitled Controlling Weeds.
-
- Canterbury
Weed Guide
- A weed identification guide prepared by the Christchurch City Council.
-
- Australian
Plants as Weeds
- Part of the Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants website.
- Department
of Agriculture Western Australia
- Collection of weed resources from the Department of Agriculture, Government
of Western Australia
- Weed
Society of Victoria
- Promoting wider awareness and interest in weeds and their management.
Includes a useful page of links
to other weed societies.
-
- Tamar
Valley Weeds Strategy
- Listing of common and botanical names, images, and information including
control methods for weeds found in Tasmania, and also on the Australian
mainland.
-
-
- New
Jersey Weed Gallery, USA
- Listing of common and botanical names and images, plus a small amount
of information for weeds that cause problems in the USA.
- Invasive
and Exotic Species of North America
- Images and other information from the University of Georgia.
- University
of California
- Weed Photo Gallery, with common and botanical names.
-
- World
of Weeds
- Weed-related resources including weed science, practical tools, gardening
tips about controlling weeds, and environmental news updates.
-
- Invasive
Species Specialist Group
- "The ISSG aims to reduce threats to natural ecosystems and the native
species they contain by increasing awareness of invasive alien species,
and of ways to prevent, control or eradicate them."
-
- Invasive
Woody Plants
- Collection of research and associated literature for invasive woody plants
in the tropics and the temperate zone.
-
- WeedScience.com
- Site that includes a comprehensive collection of weed images from around
the world.
-
-
 Books
on Weeds from FetchBook.Info
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