Arctium (Sturtevant, 1919)
| Arctium (Sturtevant, 1919) |
Arctium majus (lappa) Bernh.
Compositae. BEGGAR'S BUTTONS. BURDOCK. CLOTBUR. CUCKOLD. GOBO. HARLOCK.
Europe and Asia and occurring as a weed in the United States. In Japan, burdock is said to be cultivated as a vegetable. Gerarde says "the staike of the clotburre before the burres come forth, the rinde peelld off, being eaten raw with salt and pepper, or boyled in the broth of fat meate, is pleasant to be eaten." Kalm, in his Travels in North America, writing of Ticonderoga, N. Y., says: "and the governor told me that its tender shoots are eaten in spring as radishes, after the exterior part is taken off." In Japan, says Johns, the tender stalks are eaten as an asparagus, and its roots are said to be edible. Penhallow says the Japanese cultivate the root, but as an article of food it is tasteless, hard and fibrous.
