wild teasel
Dipsacus fullonum
The cup-like leaf bases clasping the stem can collect rainwater, forming miniature moats that drown crawling insects, potentially providing the plant with supplemental nutrients.
- Scientific name
- Dipsacus fullonum
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Dipsacales › Caprifoliaceae › Dipsacus
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Pastures, grasslands, roadsides, riverbanks, and disturbed open areas.
- Diet
- Autotrophic (Photosynthesis)
- Range
- Europe, North Africa, Western Asia, North America, Australia
- Size
- 1.0 to 2.5 meters tall
- Lifespan
- 2 years (Biennial)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Largely faces no major threats; often managed as an invasive weed in its introduced range.
- Safe to approach?
- Wild teasel is harmless but heavily armed with sharp prickles along its stems, leaves, and seed heads. To avoid painful scratches, do not touch the plant barehanded. If skin is punctured by its spines, wash the area thoroughly with soap and water to prevent infection. Wear thick leather gloves if handling dried stalks.
Dipsacus fullonum , syn. Dipsacus sylvestris , is a species of flowering plant known by the common names wild teasel or fuller's teasel , although the latter name is usually applied to the cultivated species Dipsacus sativus . It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, but it is known in the Americas, southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. The inflorescence is a cylindrical array of lavender flowers which dries to...
Photo: Andreas Rockstein, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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