The Greater Burdock grows in waste places by the roadside and on the
borders of fields. It is fairly common all over Britain and flowers in
autumn.
The Burdock is a low-growing bushy plant with strong stems. Growing
close to the ground it has large coarse leaves not unlike rhubarb
leaves. They are dark green, very wrinkled, and with slightly waved
edges.
The leaves which grow on the flower-stems are much smaller, and are long
and rather narrow.
The flowers are scarcely seen. They are made up of small rose-coloured
and purple tubes, which are crowded close together at the end of stout
round stalks. But these small flowers are completely surrounded by a
ball of green bristles, so that you require to pull the bristles apart
and look into the top of the green ball if you wish to find the flowers.
Each of the bristles on this green ball ends in a tiny hook, and with
these hooks they cling to whatever they touch. You often see these
prickly balls sticking to the wool on a sheep's back. If you throw one
at a companion it will hang to his clothes by its sharp little hooks.