Flora of New Zealand Series

burdock

Plants openly branched, 1-1.5 m tall. Stems grooved, glabrous or with cobwebby eglandular and subsessile glandular hairs. Basal lvs broadly deltoid to ovate, green and sparsely hairy above, whitish and densely felted beneath, (15)-20-40 × (15)-20-35 cm; base truncate to cordate; apex subacute to obtuse; margin dentate with apiculate vein endings; petioles solid. Upper lvs similar to basal, becoming smaller. Infl. corymbose; peduncles (3)-4-9 cm long. Capitula (15)-20-25 × (20)-30-40 mm. Involucral bracts straw yellow or yellow-green, glabrous or with sparse cobwebby hairs; margins smooth. Florets c. = involucral bracts; corolla reddish purple. Achenes 6-7 mm long; pappus 1.5-3.5 mm long.

N.: Waikato (Morrinsville); S.: Canterbury (Oxford, Fairlie, Timaru), Otago (Lawrence).

Europe, W., C., and E. Asia 1886

Waste land, railway yards, forest margins, roadsides.

FL Jan-Mar FT Feb-Apr.

A. lappa has also been referred to in N.Z. as A. majus.