In late summer, burdock carries small, thistle-like purple flowers, each held in a ball of narrow bracts. As the seeds ripen, the head dries into a burr, and every bract ends in a fine, stiff hook. Brush past it and the burr clings to fur, wool or clothing, carrying the seeds away to wherever it finally falls.
Those hooks inspired one of the 20th century's best-known inventions. In 1941, the Swiss engineer George de Mestral returned from a walk with his dog and found both of them covered in burrs. Looking at them under a microscope, he saw the tiny hooks catching on loops of fabric and fur, and went on to develop Velcro.
Burdock also has a long place in British food and folklore. Its roots were used, with dandelion, to make the traditional drink dandelion and burdock, and in South Queensferry, near Edinburgh, the Burry Man still walks the streets each August dressed from head to foot in burrs. A plant of disturbed ground, path edges and woodland margins, it grows readily on former colliery land, where its burrs hitch a ride on walkers and their dogs.
In late summer, burdock carries small, thistle-like purple flowers, each held in a ball of narrow bracts. As the seeds ripen, the head dries into a burr, and every bract ends in a fine, stiff hook. Brush past it and the burr clings to fur, wool or clothing, carrying the seeds away to wherever it finally falls.
Those hooks inspired one of the 20th century's best-known inventions. In 1941, the Swiss engineer George de Mestral returned from a walk with his dog and found both of them covered in burrs. Looking at them under a microscope, he saw the tiny hooks catching on loops of fabric and fur, and went on to develop Velcro.
Burdock also has a long place in British food and folklore. Its roots were used, with dandelion, to make the traditional drink dandelion and burdock, and in South Queensferry, near Edinburgh, the Burry Man still walks the streets each August dressed from head to foot in burrs. A plant of disturbed ground, path edges and woodland margins, it grows readily on former colliery land, where its burrs hitch a ride on walkers and their dogs.