Burdock

This weeks plant was Burdock (Arctium lappa and Arctium minus).

Burdock is a plant of waste places, or at least that is what the field guides would tell you. I suggest redefining just what a "waste place" is and why we are lucky that medicines will grow there. Waste places are areas that the land has been disturbed or neglected. The plants that move into these places are usually advantageous and more often than not, invasive, in that they are able to outgrow the competing vegetation.

In some cases, these plants become ecological problems, as with the case of Scotts Broom and English Ivy. These plants are extremely quick to grow and re-seed and will often fill "waste places" to the point where other plants can not compete. These two plants also offer very little to the humans and animals that live around these waste places.

Burdock, on the other hand, is a plant of the "waste places", but it does not grow in such a way as to eliminate the competition, and it is a provider of food and medicine. So I welcome this worldly plant to the places it now grows.

Let's talk ecology. First thing to consider about Burdock is the burrs. These burrs are the inspiration behind Velcro. How cool is that? The burrs ability to stick to clothing, fur, and many other things has allowed the burdock to hitch-hike it's way around the planet, with species represented on every continent save Antarctica. That's some impressive distribution!

Burdock sinks a nice deep taproot into the soil to take in water and nutrients. It's this carrot like (often bigger) root that we use for food and medicine. It is best to use the plants of the first year's growth. These plants do not flower and are best gathered in the fall. The second year's growth is easier to find in the late fall, and so we worked with it. Plus, this way I was able to utilize the burrs in class as sticky teachers of their clinging ability.

The leaves are large, rhubarblike, widely ovate, on long petioles, a little woolly below and lighter in color below. The margins are scalloped. The flowers are purple to red-purple and look like the burrs, except that the hooked spines do not yet stick.

Burdock is a Biennial plant, which means that it takes two years for the life cycle of the plant to cycle around. In year one the root grows deep and strong while above ground, only a rosette of the fuzzy leaves will grow. During year two, the plant shoots up the central stalk with the alternate leaves that grow up from one to four feet tall to support clusters of the thistle looking flowers that by the end of the cycle turn into the burrs that hitch rides around the world!

So what's a worldly hitch-hiking wanderer of the wastes doing in our pharmacopoeia?

To be crass about it: Burdock helps you flush the crud from your system.

To quote Ellen Greenlaw: "Burdock is like a cleaning woman or a garbage collector: essential to modern life, but underpaid and undervalued. She's the old black rag-a-muffin of herbs."

To quote Alma Hutchens: "Herbalists all over the world use Burdock. Such an effective and ultimate blood purifying plant has well earned its unpretending authentic value...It works slowly, but steadily."

And a word from Michael Moore: "Burdock is a widely used blood purifier and alterative, stronger than sarsparilla but less energetic and with little of the intestinal effects of yellow dock."

I like to use Burdock in combination with other plants. It works well with the herbal antibiotics and antivirals such as Oregon Grape, Lomatium, and Goldenseal. Think about it this way...while the warrior plants are on the front lines killing the bugs that ail you, Burdock is working quietly behind the scenes to clean up the mess. Burdock works on the lymph, sweat, and oil glands; helping you to expel that which the front liners are killing. Burdock also works on the Liver, lungs, kidneys, stomach, uterus(if ya got one) and joints.

Burdock leaves have been used effectively to cure gout, especially when combined with a tincture of the seeds.

The seeds are also diuretic and will help with the output of uric acid.

Burdock roots can be used as a wash to treat acne. Use the tincture as a tonic to keep the skin clean. Make a poultice of the fresh root to treat breakouts that have flared up just days before your hot date.

A bath of burdock root infusion will ease mussel and joint pains.

Cooking weekly with the root in stir fry and other ways roots are prepared will do wonders for your health. You can purchase these roots at New Seasons and Whole Foods...or you can dig em up yourself! They are relatively cheap and they are really good for you! Susan Weed says that a steady diet of Burdock will keep your virility potent and vigorous! Yee-Haw!

I end this blog with appreciation to the work of Susun S. Weed and I ask that you all go out and buy a copy of her book, Healing Wise. If you don't want to buy it, check it out of the library. She is hilarious, wise, wacky, and her book has been an amazing teacher and opener of the way into the wisdom of the green.