Burdock Traditional Cache

The Burdock is the one on the left, thistle on the right. They are across the road from GZ. This is a P&G.

Burdock

Arctium lappa, commonly called greater burdock, gobō, edible burdock, lappa, beggar's buttons, thorny burr, or happy major is a Eurasian species of plants in the sunflower family, cultivated in gardens for its root used as a vegetable. It has become an invasive weed of high-nitrogen soils in North America, Australia, and other regions.

Greater Burdock is a biennial plant, rather tall, reaching as much as 3 m (10 ft). It has large, alternating, cordiform leaves that have a long petiol and are pubescent on the underside.

The flowers are purple and grouped in globular capitula, united in clusters. They appear in mid-summer, from July to September. The capitula are surrounded by an involucre made out of many bracts, each curving to form a hook, allowing them to be carried long distances on the fur of animals. The fruits are achenes; they are long, compressed, with short pappuses. The fleshy tap-root can grow up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) deep.

This species is native to the temperate regions of the old world, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranian, and from the British Isles through Russia, and the Middle East to China and Japan, including India.

It is naturalized almost everywhere and is usually found in disturbed areas, especially in soil rich in nitrogen. It is commonly cultivated in Japan where it gives its name to a particular construction technique, burdock piling.

Greater burdock root is known as niúbàng (牛蒡) in Chinese, which was borrowed into Japanese as gobō and Korean as ueong, and is widely eaten in the region. It was used in Europe during the Middle Ages as a vegetable, but now it is rarely used except in Italy, Brazil and Portugal, where it is known as bardana or "garduna". Plants are cultivated for their slender roots, which can grow about 1 meter long and 2 cm across. The root was traditionally used in Britain as a flavouring in the herbal drink dandelion and burdock, which is still commercially produced.

Immature flower stalks may also be harvested in late spring, before flowers appear. The taste resembles that of artichoke, to which the burdock is related.

The prickly heads of these plants (burrs) are noted for easily catching on to fur and clothing. In England, some birdwatchers have reported that birds have become entangled in the burrs leading to a slow death, as they are unable to free themselves. Burdock's clinging properties, in addition to thus providing an excellent mechanism for seed dispersal, led to the invention of Velcro.

The cache is a tied in, camoed, "micro" pill bottle. It has only a rolled log with a rubber band and a tiny plastic bag. Please BYOP and put things back the way you found them.