Classification
 Subordinate Taxa
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Arctium minus (Hill) Bernh. (1800)
Synonymy:
  • Lappa minor Hill (1762)
Vernacular Name(s):
Common burdock
 Description

Plants openly branched, 1–1.5 m tall. Stems grooved, with sparse to dense cobwebby eglandular and subsessile glandular hairs, rarely glabrous or farinose. Basal lvs deltoid to broadly deltoid, green and sparsely hairy above, whitish and densely felted beneath, (15)–25–40–(55) × (10)–13–30–(35) cm; base cordate; apex subacute to obtuse; margin crenate to bluntly dentate with apiculate vein endings; petioles hollow. Upper lvs similar to basal, becoming smaller. Infl. racemose; peduncles 0–1–(3) cm long. Capitula (12)–15–20 × (14)–20–30 mm. Involucral bracts straw yellow, greenish or purplish, glabrous or with sparse to dense cobwebby hairs; margins with short, stiff, tapered, forwardly directed denticles, at least on the innermost bracts. Florets = or > involucral bracts; corolla reddish purple. Achenes 5–7 mm long; pappus 1.5–3.5 mm long.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Exotic
Number of subspecific taxa in New Zealand within Arctium minus (Hill) Bernh.
CategoryNumber
Exotic: Fully Naturalised1
Total1
 Phenology

Flowering: Jan.–Apr.; Fruiting: Feb.–May.

 Bibliography
Biosecurity New Zealand 2012: Regional Pest Management Strategies Database. http://www.biosecurityperformance.maf.govt.nz/
Howell, C. 2008: Consolidated list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. DOC Research & Development Series 292: 42.