Burdock – 10 Seeds

Burdock, (Arctium lappa ), also spelled burrdock, is a genus of biennial plants in the Asteraceae family, bearing globular flower heads with prickly bracts (modified leaves). They are cultivated for their edible root in Asia and is also used as a medicinal plant. Their fruits are round burrs that stick to clothing and fur. This is an easy plant to grow either as an herbal medicine or as a vegetable.

Common Names: Greater burdock, gobō, edible burdock, lappa, beggar’s buttons, thorny burr and happy major.

Burdock Culinary Uses
It is a popular food plant, known as gobo, in Asian cooking. Roots are eaten either raw or cooked, and leaves and stems are used like spinach. Indigenous Americans were growing burdock plants in their own vegetable gardens before the country was settled by Europeans.

Burdock Medicinal Benefits

Burdock root has been a part of traditional medicine, particularly traditional Chinese medicine, for centuries.
Among the many burdock plant uses is in the treatment of scalp and skin problems. It is also known to be a liver treatment and stimulates the digestive system. It is a detoxifying herb and diuretic and has also been used as an antidote in some cases of poisoning. In China, the seeds are used to treat colds and cough. Medical uses of burdock stem from the plant’s use in tinctures and decoctions resulting in salves, lotions and other topical applications.

Growing Burdock

Indoor Sowing: Cold Stratification and then sow seeds in Spring.

Direct Sowing:  Autumn.

• Seeds should be stratified first and then sown directly in spring after all danger of frost has passed.
• Stratify the seeds in moist peat moss in the refrigerator for 90 days.
• Plant seeds 1/8 inch under the soil and keep evenly moist.
• Germination takes place in 1-2 weeks.
• Once seed has germinated, young plants grow quickly but it takes some time to establish a taproot of sufficient size to harvest.
• Plants should be spaced at least 18 inches apart.