Wine Making
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Herbs: Burdock
   
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Common Name: Burdock
Botanical Name: Arctium lappa (LINN.)
Family: N. O. Compositae
Genus: Arctium, derived from the Greek arktos
Other common names: Lappa, Fox's Clote, Thorny Burr, Beggar's
Buttons, Cockle Buttons, Love Leaves, Philanthropium, Personata,
Happy Major, Clot_Bur.
Parts Used: Root, herb and seeds (fruits).
Habitat: It grows freely throughout England (though rarely in
Scotland) and throughout North Americas temperate zone on waste
ground and about old buildings, by roadsides and in fairly damp
places.
The Burdock, the only British member of its genus, belongs to
the Thistle group of the great order, Compositae.
Description: A stout handsome plant, with large, wavy leaves and
round heads of purple flowers. It is enclosed in a globular
involucre of long stiff scales with hooked tips, the scales
being also often interwoven with a white, cottony substance.
The whole plant is a dull, pale green, the stem about 3 to 4
feet and branched, rising from a biennial root. The lower leaves
are very large, on long, solid footstalks, furrowed above,
frequently more than a foot long heart shaped and of a grey
colour on their under surfaces from the mass of fine down with
which they are covered. The upper leaves are much smaller, more
egg shaped in form and not so densely clothed beneath with the
grey down.
The plant varies considerably in appearance, and by some
botanists various subspecies, or even separate species, have
been described, the variations being according to the size of
the flower heads and of the whole plant, the abundance of the
whitish cotton-like substance that is sometimes found on the
involucres, or the absence of it, the length of the flower
stalks, etc.
The flower heads are found expanded during the latter part of
the summer and well into the autumn: all the florets are
tubular, the stamens dark purple and the styles whitish. The
plant owes its dissemination greatly to the little hooked
prickles of its involucre, which adhere to everything with which
they come in contact, and by attaching themselves to coats of
animals are often carried to a great distance.
They are Burs, I can tell you, they'll stick where they are
thrown, Shakespeare makes Pandarus say in Troilus and Cressida,
and in King Lear we have another direct reference to this plant:
Crown'd with rank Fumiter and Furrow-weeds, With Burdocks,
Hemlocks, Nettles, Cuckoo-flowers. Also in As You Like It:
ROSALIND. How full of briers is this working-day world! CELIA.
They are but burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday foolery.
If we walk not in the trodden paths, our very petticoats will
catch them.
The name of the genus, Arctium, is derived from the Greek
arktos, a bear, in allusion to the roughness of the burs, lappa,
the specific name, being derived from a word meaning 'to seize.'
Another source derives the word lappa from the Celtic llap, a
hand, on account of its prehensile properties.
The plant gets its name of 'Dock' from its large leaves; the
'Bur' is supposed to be a contraction of the French bourre, from
the Latin burra, a lock of wool, such is often found entangled
with it when sheep have passed by the growing plants.
An old English name for the Burdock was 'Herrif,' 'Aireve,' or
'Airup,' from the Anglo Saxon hoeg, a hedge, and reafe, a robber
- or from the Anglo Saxon verb reafian, to seize. Culpepper
gives as popular names in his time: Personata, Happy Major and
Clot-Bur.
Though growing in its wild state hardly any animal except the
ass will browse on this plant, the stalks, cut before the flower
is open and stripped of their rind, form a delicate vegetable
when boiled, similar in flavour to Asparagus, and also make a
pleasant salad, eaten raw with oil and vinegar. Formerly they
were sometimes candied with sugar, as Angelica is now. They are
slightly laxative, but perfectly wholesome.
Cultivation: As the Burdock grows freely in waste places and
hedgerows, it can be collected in the wild state, and is seldom
worth cultivating.
It will grow in almost any soil, but the roots are formed best
in a light well drained soil. The seeds germinate readily and
may be sown directly in the field, either in autumn or early
spring, in drills 18 inches to 3 feet apart, sowing 1 inch deep
in autumn, but less in spring. The young plants when well up are
thinned out to 6 inches apart in the row.
Yields at the rate of 1,500 to 2,000 lb. of dry roots per acre
have been obtained from plantations of Burdock.
Parts Used Medicinally: The dried root from plants of the first
year's growth forms the official drug, but the leaves and fruits
(commonly, though erroneously, called seeds) are also used.
The roots are dug in July, and should be lifted with a
beet-lifter or a deep-running plough. As a rule they are 12
inches or more in length and about 1 inch thick, sometimes,
however, they extend 2 to 3 feet, making it necessary to dig by
hand. They are fleshy, wrinkled, crowned with a tuft of whitish,
soft, hairy leaf stalks, grey-brown externally, whitish
internally, with a somewhat thick bark, about a quarter of the
diameter of the root, and soft wood tissues, with a radiate
structure.
Burdock root has a sweetish and mucilaginous taste.
Burdock leaves, which are less used than the root, are collected
in July. For drying, follow the drying of Coltsfoot leaves. They
have a somewhat bitter taste.
The seeds (or fruits) are collected when ripe. They are
brownish-grey, wrinkled, about 1/4 inch long and 1/16 inch in
diameter. They are shaken out of the head and dried by spreading
them out on paper in the sun.
Constituents: Inulin, mucilage, sugar, a bitter, crystalline
glucoside-Lappin, a little resin, fixed and volatile oils, and
some tannic acid.
The roots contain starch, and the ashes of the plant, burnt when
green, yield carbonate of potash abundantly, and also some nitre.
Medicinal Action and Uses: Alterative, diuretic and diaphoretic.
One of the best blood purifiers. In all skin diseases, it is a
certain remedy and has effected a cure in many cases of eczema,
either taken alone or combined with other remedies, such as
Yellow Dock and Sarsaparilla.
The root is principally employed, but the leaves and seeds are
equally valuable. Both root and seeds may be taken as a
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pint, in doses of a wineglassful, three or four times a day.
The anti-scorbutic properties of the root make the decoction
very useful for boils, scurvy and rheumatic affections, and by
many it is considered superior to Sarsaparilla, on account of
its mucilaginous, demulcent nature; it has in addition been
recommended for external use as a wash for ulcers and scaly skin
disorders.
An infusion of the leaves is useful to impart strength and tone
to the stomach, for some forms of longstanding indigestion.
When applied externally as a poultice, the leaves are highly
resolvent for tumours and gouty swellings, and relieve bruises
and inflamed surfaces generally. The bruised leaves have been
applied by the peasantry in many countries as cataplasms to the
feet and as a remedy for hysterical disorders.
From the seeds, both a medicinal tincture and a fluid extract
are prepared, of benefit in chronic skin diseases. Americans use
the seeds only, considering them more efficacious and prompt in
their action than the other parts of the plant. They are
relaxant and demulcent, with a limited amount of tonic property.
Their influence upon the skin is due largely to their being of
such an oily nature: they affect both the sebaceous and
sudoriferous glands, and probably owing to their oily nature
restore that smoothness to the skin which is a sign of normal
healthy action.
The infusion or decoction of the seeds is employed in dropsical
complaints, more especially in cases where there is co-existing
derangement of the nervous system, and is considered by many to
be a specific for all affections of the kidneys, for which it
may with advantage be taken several times a day, before meals.
Preparations: Fluid extract, root, 1/2 to 2 drachms. Solid
extract, 5 to 15 grains. Fluid extract, seed, 10 to 30 drops.
Mythical Uses:
Culpepper gives the following uses for the Burdock: The Burdock
leaves are cooling and moderately drying, whereby good for old
ulcers and sores. The leaves applied to the places troubled with
the shrinking in the sinews or arteries give much ease: a juice
of the leaves or rather the roots themselves given to drink with
old wine, doth wonderfully help the biting of any serpents, the
root beaten with a little salt and laid on the place suddenly
easeth the pain thereof, and helpeth those that are bit by a mad
dog:... the seed being drunk in wine 40 days together doth
wonderfully help the sciatica: the leaves bruised with the white
of an egg and applied to any place burnt with fire, taketh out
the fire, gives sudden ease and heals it up afterwards.... The
root may be preserved with sugar for consumption, stone and the
lax. The seed is much commended to break the stone, and is often
used with other seeds and things for that purpose.
And from Henslow: It was regarded as a valuable remedy for stone
in the Middle Ages, and called Bardona. As a rule, the recipes
for stone contained some seeds or 'fruits' of a 'stony'
character, as gromel seed, ivy berries, and nearly always
saxifrage, i.e. 'stone-breaker.' Even date-stones had to be
pounded and taken; the idea being that what is naturally 'stony'
would cure it; that 'like cures like'
From the Wild Vegetarian Cookbook by Wildman
This major wild food has long-stalked wedge-shaped leaves
reminiscent of elephants ears, 2 feet long and 1 foot across.
Unlike similar leaves, theyre white and fuzzy underneath.
The basal rosette of leaves stays close to the ground the first
year and the beginning of the second.
Look for burdock in disturbed habitats, roadsides, vacant lots,
and fields. It grows throughout North America except in the Deep
South.
You can harvest the large, deep, beige taproot from the basal
rosette form (as soon as the flower stalk appears, the root
becomes tough and woody) from early spring to late fall. Its
hearty flavor is a little like that of potatoes, although its
related to artichokes.
Scrub the root with a coarse copper scouring pad, but dont peel
it. Slice it razor thin on a diagonal, oriental style, or use
the finest slicing disk of a food processor.
Simmer 20 minutes or until tender. You may also saut it, but
add liquid and cook it in moist heat another 10 minutes
afterwards, or it may not get tender.
You may also harvest the immature flower stalk in late spring,
before the flowers appear, while its still tender and very
flexible.
Peeled and parboiled for 1 minute to get rid of the bitterness,
it tastes like artichoke hearts, and it will enhance any
traditional recipe that calls for the heart of artichokes. Cook
this 5_10 minutes.
Burdock is a very important component in an ancient native North
American herbal decoction, usually available as either powder to
brew a tea from or as a liquid tonic itself. It is known
variously by many names, but most commonly as Essiac. The basic
Essiac Ingredients are.
1.Burdock Root (Arctium lappa) 2.Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella)
3.Slippery Elm (Ulmus fulva) 4. Turkey Rhubarb (Rheum palmatum)
Disclaimer: This article in no way should be taken as medical
advice on any product, condition or course of action, nor does
it constitute in any way medical advice endorsing any specific
product, specific result, nor any possible cure for any
condition or problem. This article is meant as a source of
information upon which you may base your decision as to whether
or not you should begin using any vitamin, mineral and/or herbal
supplement for better health, or begin using a greens product
as a dietary supplement.
If in doubt, or if you have questions, you should consult your
physician and, if possible, consult a second physician for a
possible different opinion. The author does not bear any
responsibility for your decisions nor for the outcome of your
actions based upon those decisions.
About the author:
Loring Windblad has studied nutrition and exercise for more than
40 years, is a published author and freelance writer.
This article is Copyright 2005 by http://www.organicgreens.us
and Loring Windblad. This article may be freely copied and used
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unchanged except for minor improvements such as misspellings and
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