Arctium lappa

Great burdock

Family: Asteraceae · Type: biennial · Not Native

Great burdock is a naturalized biennial found in southern North Coast Ranges Interior and San Francisco Bay Area in disturbed places at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from June to October, this plant produces purple flowers in large heads approximately 9 to 12 millimeters long. Growing up to 2.5 meters tall with branches that ascend from its main stem, it develops a robust and expansive structure. Its large leaves can reach up to 80 centimeters in length, with green surfaces above and a distinctive grayish-white downy texture underneath. The fruit is approximately 6 to 7 millimeters long, often brown with occasional dark spotting.

Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed places

Bloom period: Jun-Oct

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: s NCoRI, SnFrB

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.