Teasel

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Teasel inflorescences

Teasel

Teasel stem and bracts

Teasel leaves

Teasel flowers

Teasel

Morphology

Stem

Erect, stout, longitudinal ridges, prickly.

Leaves

Opposite, simple, sessile, oblong to oblanceolate or lanceolate, to 16 inches long, 1.6 to 4 inches wide, arching, nearly smooth but prickly on mid-rib beneath; margins wavy-toothed, prickly, becoming entire upward; bases often united.

Inflorescence

Head, erect, dense, ovoid to nearly cylindric, 1.2 to 4 inches tall, 1.2 to 2 inches wide, terminal on long stalks; involucral bracts linear, elongate, .8 to 6 inches long, 1/12 to 1/5 inch wide, often equaling or surpassing head, upward curving, tapering to spiny tips.

Flower

Calyx small, cup-like, 4-lobed, silky; corolla funnel-shaped, 1/3 to 3/5 inch long, unequally 4-5-lobed, pale purple; stamens 1-4, projecting conspicuously beyond corolla; bract subtending each flower rigid, long-tapering.

Fruit

Achene, 1/8 to 1/6 inch long, hairy, crowned by persistent calyx; seed 1, brownish.

Ecology

Habitat

Roadsides, weedy pastures, wet ditches, fields, ravines, waste areas, low moist places.

Distribution

Principally the east 1/3 of Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

Native Americans used the heads to card wool and treated acne with a wash made by steeping the leaves. Teasel was sometimes cultivated for the spine-bracted fruiting heads which were used to raise the nap (teasing) of wool cloth.

Additional Notes