365 Urban Species. #225: Mugwort. #226: Burdock

[urbpan]

Mugwort in a construction site between North Station and the highway.


Burdock towers over visitors to the Riverway in Boston (Phragmites towers over the burdock).

Urban species #225: Mugwort Artemesia vulgaris
Urban species #226: Burdock Arctium lappa


Mugwort and burdock are tall weeds that are often found in the city, and which have long histories of herbal use, and funny-sounding names. They are both Eurasian, and have probably grown along the edges of human settlements for thousands of years.

Mugwort is a rangy, pale green, shrublike plant, somewhat resembling ragweed. Its name apparently refers to its use as an insect repellant, rather than as a beer flavoring. ("Mug" here is a corruption of an Old English word for insect, the root of "midge," or "moth" and "wort" means essentially, "herb.") It sprouts up in fields and along roads in the city, becoming the dominant plant in many places. It is happy to grow in pavement cracks and at construction sites, and will often grow where no other plant seems to be able.

Mugwort has a rich history of use, including medicine, flavoring, and magic. People have long found that this exceedingly common plant is good to make tea with, to smoke, to induce menses or pleasant dreams, to ward off danger or moths, to stuff a goose with, and so on. Its close relative, wormwood (A. absinthium) is famous as an ingredient in absinthe. In the Ukraine, the word for mugwort has become an important place name: Chernobyl.

Burdock is named for its fruit; burs (or burrs) are seedcases covered in spines that stick to hair or clothing. This method of seed dispersal can be very effective, as shown by the abundance of this plant. It's a quite large weed, growing in unmowed areas of the city. Its basal rosette (the first of its foliage to grow; the more or less round arrangement of bottom leaves) consists of huge, rough, rhubarb-like leaves. After a while, the plant sends a tall stalk up through the middle of the rosette, often six feet or more. Purple, or sometimes white, thistle-like flowers form on the plant, which then develop into the green, then brown, spiky fruit.

Burdock is well-known to contemporary herbalists. It's very important in Asian traditional medicine in particular, and is also used in some Asian cuisine. I was amused to find homely nubs of burdock root selling for several dollars a pound in a gourmet market. The huge taproot can be two feet long, as those who have tried to remove this weed can attest. I have also encountered small gardens of burdock carefully tended at the edge of Ringer Park in Allston.



The Deer Island Sewage Treatment Plant is in the background behind this field of mugwort on Spectacle Island.


Single mugwort plant in Brighton.


One plant celebrated, another thriving without encouragement.



Burdock flowers (clearly these burs evolved to be carried by very tall mammals).


White burdock flowers. (Location, alongside Storrow Drive, at Charles Street).


The basal rosette of a burdock plant.


Close-up of burdock flower.


A burdock fruit clings.


And how.

Comments

[lisianthia.livejournal.com]

http://www.acupuncture-uk.net/page7.html

More fun facts about Mugwort use.

[badnoodles.livejournal.com]

It's my understanding that lightly crushed burdock leaf is good for treatment of burns & scalding.

[lucubr8r.livejournal.com]

I've also heard it's a good antidote to the irritation caused by the urticating spines of stinging nettle (Urtica dioca).

[trollhagen.livejournal.com]

Cats also like mugwort. In fact, a nice herbal lady I know named her cat Mugwort because he liked to sit near it. :)

Non wort related...

[turil.livejournal.com]

Thought you might be interested in this article about a < href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2006/08/16/residents_wonder_if_dead_animal_is_legendary_mystery_beast/">mutant animal in Maine.

More Burdock and Mugwort

[civilizeme.livejournal.com]

For almost a thousand years, the locals have been giving ritual shots whisky to the Burry Man. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4784271.stm)

Also, I thought I would share my own notes on mugwort, in the spirit of collaboration.

When early European visitors to Japan investigated the island culture's traditional therapies , they found the natives burning small bolus-bundles of soft wooly leaves on the skin of persons suffering from diverse conditions: gout, anemia, etc. The plant was mokusa in the local parlance, from moye-kusa or 'burning-herb' in a combination of stem of moyeru ("to burn") with kusa grass, plant, herb. To the European ear, it sounded as if the Japanese were saying /mksa/. Hence the common name moxa, from which derives the name of moxibustion: TCM therapy in which the practitioner burns small packets of herbs on the patient's body.

In an alternative preparation, the crushed leaves of the plant are steeped in alcohol for a few days, resulting in a calcium-rich tincture taken by the spoonful as a tonic or used as an additive to fortifying teas. This leafy mug thrives in waste places, along roads, and on the banks of the Charles. It's scientific name, Artemisia vulgaris, implies both that it is vulgar, or common, and that it associated with the witch-goddess Artemis. The pungent aroma of the crushed leaves, and the plants purported medicinal properties made it a stock item on the shelves of midwives and wise-women. There are other herbs in genus Compositæ -- the daisies! -- including the famous wormwood (sp. absinthium) gives Absinthe it's legendary kick. Also tarragon (the 'garden-dragon') and chamomile, whose name comes from Pliny's Greek compendium of herbal usages, and means 'earth apple'. Chrysanthemum is a Compositæ cousin of mugwort; you can recognize the relation by examining the similarly finely-divided foliage.

Urbpan is one of my favorite online destinations. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and your affection for the urban ecosystem!

Burdock Bugs

[(Anonymous)]

I have tried to attach a picture of bugs that love Burdock Plants, just for your enjoyment:
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/28086861@N02/2797560218/)

Re: Burdock Bugs

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Cute little planthoppers!