Arctium Species, Beggar's Buttons, Cockle-Button, Edible Burdock, Greater Burdock, Thorny Burr

Prolific and spreading hard to control once established but it certainly has its uses, it sometimes grows on the edges of fields and fore...Read Morests particularly the moist areas with rich organic soil(but it can tolerate marginal soil). The young leaf steams are edible when still light green, as the stems get older they develop a red color and get fibrous and bitter, the young green stems are a yearly treat if you have access to lots of them, they are quite good batter dipped and fried. Foragers and survivalists may find use of the leaves to wrap wild food for open fire cooking. The roots of the older plants are said to be edible, and I was surprised to find out the roots are eaten by people more often then young stems(which I really like).

Tap roots go to 4 ft, hard to get rid of. Biennial plant that develops horrible burs in second year. Little redeeming value to wildlife....Read More Deer will browse this plant only if no other food is available. Burs stick to clothes, animal fur and can even be fatal to birds: "Common Burdock (Arctium minus) is an invasive, exotic plant that can be deadly to small birds like kinglets, warblers and bats. Burdock’s burrs act like Velcro to trap birds and bats unfortunate enough to come in contact with them." http://www.wihumane.org/wildlife/burdock.aspx

I love burdock (to eat) and so decided to grow some from seed in my garden - big mistake! It is terribly invasive and difficult to get ri...Read Mored of. I realized later that our community garden actually forbids growing it. It grows to a huge plant (8 ft or so?) with very deep, thick roots (much deeper than I can dig). It has tough woody stalks that must be sawed off. The seeds are borne in prickly seed burrs, which stick to clothing and everything else, so it's very difficult to avoid spreading seeds around. It regrows from a small piece of root left in the ground, which is almost inevitable. So beware!

Every part of the plant is edible. I make salads out of newer leaves, eat fresh roots, cut the stalks, and use them like cellery, and als...Read Moreo dry the roots and leaves out to make teas.
The flower can also be used, befor the seeds develope.