Arctium minus

Common burdock

Family: Asteraceae · Type: biennial · Not Native

Common burdock is a naturalized biennial found in northwestern California, northern Channel Islands, and the Modoc Plateau in disturbed places at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces purple flowers in heads with involucres 8 to 10 millimeters long. Growing up to 1.5 meters tall with stiffly ascending branches, it develops a robust structure with distinctive foliage. Its large leaves can reach up to 80 centimeters long, green on top and grayish-white underneath, with a soft, fuzzy texture that becomes smoother with age. The fruit is a dark brown bur, 4 to 7.5 millimeters long, capable of clinging tenaciously to clothing and animal fur.

Habitat: Disturbed places

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: NW, n ChI, MP

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