Synonyms

Arctium lappa L.: Arctium chaorum Klokov; Arctium lappa subsp. majus Arènes; Arctium leiospermum Juz. & Ye. V. Serg.; Arctium majus (Gaertn.) Benth.; Lappa major Gaertn.; Lappa vulgaris Hill.

Local Names

Georgian: (orovandi); (dzirxvena); Armenian: кратук (kratuk); Russian: Лопух (lopuch); Azeri: пытраг (pytrag); (Grossheim 1952; Ketskhoveli et al. 1971–2011; Makashvili 1991; Sokolov 1993).

Botany and Ecology

Biennial. Plants 60–150 cm tall, reaching up to 3 m. Root branched, fleshy, thick, fusiform, up to 60 cm long. Stem erect, strong, longitudinally sulcate, often reddish; branches numerous, erect, spreading, covered with papilliform hairs mixed with glandular hairs, but mostly arachnoid-hairy. Leaves petiolate, broadly cordate-ovate, sparsely crenate toothed or entire, green and sparsely pubescent above, finely gray tomentose beneath with scattered yellowish glandular hairs; basal leaves up to 50 cm long, on ridged, tumid, more than 30 cm long petioles; cauline leaves abruptly reduced, uppermost somewhat cordate at base. Capitula borne sparsely in corymbose-racemose inflorescence, sometimes on peduncles up to 10 cm or longer, and almost at same height at tips of branches, globose, large, 13–20 mm wide excluding cusp, with cusps 20–35 mm long. Involucral bracts glabrous or weakly arachnoid-hairy; lower bracts lanceolate, carinate, 1–1.5 mm wide, weakly ciliate-toothed along margin, narrowed into linear-lanceolate, erect spiny tip; middle bracts appressed-pubescent; inner lanceolate, green, sometimes purple, pubescent, gradually narrowed into weak apical hook as long as or longer than floret. Corolla purple-red, abruptly narrowed into 5–6 mm long tube, limb 4–5 mm with 1.5–2 mm long lobes; apical appendage of anthers 0.2 mm long, narrow and pointed, basal appendages 0.75 mm long, simple or bifid. Achenes 6–6.5 mm long, 2.5–2.75 mm wide, narrow-obovate, with narrow areole, pappus attachment surrounded by four to six tubercles; achenes longitudinally ribbed, transversely rugose near upper and, to lesser extent, at lower end, grayish to brown, with zigzag dark brown to almost black pattern; pappus 3–3.5 mm long. Flowering August–September. Ural, Caucasus, garbage dumps, near inhabited areas, along roads and fences, banks of rivers and rivulets, rarely in cultivated fields (Shishkin and Boborov 1962; Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Arctium lappa (Asteraceae), Racha, Georgia. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y Paniagua-Zambrana)

Full size image
Fig. 2
figure 2

Arctium lappa (Asteraceae), Racha, Georgia. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y Paniagua-Zambrana)

Full size image
Fig. 3
figure 3

Arctium lappa (Asteraceae), Racha, Georgia. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y Paniagua-Zambrana)

Full size image
Fig. 4
figure 4

Arctium lappa (Asteraceae), Racha, Georgia. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y Paniagua-Zambrana)

Full size image
Fig. 5
figure 5

Arctium lappa (Asteraceae), Racha, Georgia. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y Paniagua-Zambrana)

Full size image

Local Medicinal Uses

Root decoction sometimes used as diuretic (Grossheim 1952; Sokolov 1993).

The flowers have antibiotic properties, and the leaves are used as anti-inflammatory, especially for arthritis, as well as antibiotic (Batsatsashvili et al. 2017a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h; Bussmann et al. 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018; Bussmann 2017).

Local Food Uses

Young roots are used for food raw or boiled in salted water and further prepared with butter and vinegar. When boiled with sour milk, sorrel, vinegar, etc., inulin in finely chopped roots transforms into sugar (laevulose). Thus, the roots can be used to make sweet puree. Dried and finely ground roots are used to make flour; 30% of burdock root flour can be added to wheat or rye flour to bake bread. Roots can be used to make coffee-like drink. Young shoots and leaves are used for food as salad or are put into borsch (Grossheim 1952).

In Pshavi young shoots and the roots of dzirkhvena Arctium palladini (Marcow.) R.E.Fr. & Soderb. and Arctium platylepis (Boiss. & Bal.) Sosn. ex Grossh. are eaten (Maghalashvili 1970).

In Khevsureti the local population uses a variety of plants growing in wild for cooking mixed mkhali, e.g., dzirkhvena Arctium lappa L.; k’enk’esha Campanula lactiflora M. Bieb. young, peeled shoots are used as food; tvitmavala Amaranthus retroflexsus L. grows in vegetable gardens and ruderal places he aboveground parts of the plant are harvested, boiled, mixed within clarified butter, onions, herbs and eaten; ckhenis sakhvremi Sonchus ssp., mochik’ais t’ari Campanula rapunculoides L., mch’ivana Silene wallichiana Klotzsch (Bakhtadze and Koghuashvili 2009; Chincharauli 2005).

In Tusheti many herbaceous plants are used as food and are kept for winter, either dried or pickled, to make mixed mkhali and sauces and to accompany the main dishes, including kumeli q’va . It is used all-year round and is made of roasted keri (barley) grains. Can be made of ipkli (Georgian endemic wheat), corn, svili (rye), kersvili (mixture of barley and rye) and tsetsvi (faba bean, when mixed with corn: giera-i Brassica campestris subsp. oleifera (DC.) Schübl. & Mart., gomat’i Bunias orientalis L., dutsi Angelica tatianae Bordz., kharnuq’a-i Lactuca serriola L., buera Petasites ssp., shubq’a-i Heracleum asperum M. Bieb., khap’ara-i Cichorium intybus L., mariamdzmara Ligusticum alatum (M. Bieb.) Spreng. ch’imi Chaerophyllum bulbosum L., diq’i Heracleum ssp., jortk’uda-i Artemisia vulgaris L., sagvidzla Taraxacum officinale (L.) Weber ex F.H. Wigg., dzirkhvena Arctium lappa L., ch’ivana Silene wallichiana Klotzsch, kvishamkhala Silene laera (Stev.) Sims, khavrat’ai Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik., jorik’udai Artemisia vulgaris L., and giera Sinapis arvensis L. (Makalatia 1933). There are several ways to season mkhali in Tusheti: (1) well-cleaned plants are placed in a pot and cooked without water. The cooked plants are placed on a sieve to cool and cut into pieces. After that the dish is seasoned with onions and browned in clarified butter, eggs, and salt. (2) After cooking the plants in the same way, fresh cottage cheese, onions browned in clarified butter, eggs, and salt are added. (3) After boiling the mkhali is seasoned with vinegar, garlic, and salt. Normally, in Tusheti mkhali is not seasoned with walnuts and vinegar (Makalatia 1933).

The raw roots of dzirkhvenai Arctium lappa L. are eaten in Tusheti (Makalatia 1933).

In Racha tiorshi , dilkhami Arctium lappa L., mek’endzala Aruncus vulgaris Raf., kalak’oda Arum orientale M. Bieb. Humulus lupulus L., and many others kept for winter woven in double braids and hung from a pillar to pillar, long as the song sung by women during the kalak’oda (Arum orientale collection party) (Gvaramadze 1997; Pruidze 1986).

Plants mixed together for pkhali in Adjara include dvarula dvalura Polygonum carneum C. Koch, dondoli Gadellia lactiflora (M.Bieb.), ch’inch’ari Urtica dioica L., katamnatsara Chenopodium album L., ch’ich’laq’a Amaranthus retroflexus L., perapera Phytolacca americana L., k’uk’umzhava, svint’ri Polygonatum ssp., ch’arbadelo Arctium lappa L., and also young leaves of motsvi Vaccinium ssp., venakhi Vitis vinifera L., babuats’vera Taraxacum ssp., Kajiloja Daucus carota L., Ts’its’marit’a Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik., burt’q’ila Lapsana. grandiflora M. Bieb., the plants used by Adjara people as food are: ajark’ela Lathyrus roseus Steven, ajorik’a Aruncus vulgaris Raf. (young leaves are pickled), bobots’vera Taraxacum ssp. (ground roasted dry roots used instead of cichorium), dilq’a Heracleum sp. (shoots are peeled and eaten), k’onst’ant’ila (white roots are edible), ozaghina Chaerophyllum aureum L. (young leaves are pickled), ghima Chaerophyllum bulbosum L. (mixed with leek or ajorik’a Aruncus vulgaris Raf. and pickled), and dvalura Polygonum carneum (Baramidze 1987; Kakhidze 2007; Kokhreidze 1947; Nizharadze 1971). Wild pkhali plants can be cooked in various ways: pickled, boiled, and seasoned with vinegar, walnuts, and various spice herbs (Kokhreidze 1947).

The leaves are used in small amounts in pkhali (herb pie), together with lots of other species. The stems can be pickled (Batsatsashvili et al. 2017a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h; Bussmann et al. 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018; Bussmann 2017).

Local Handicraft and Other Uses

Good melliferous plants producing nectar and pollen (Grossheim 1952; Sokolov 1993).