Scientific name: Dipsacus fullonum L.
Common name: Wild Teasel
Description
Habit: Biennial, to 2 m high.
Stems: Erect with prickly stems.
Leaves: Opposite, without stipules and stalkless, 4-8 cm and united at the leaf attachment; entire, lanceolate, prickly on midrib on lowerside.
Flowers: Pink, purple or lilic, small and numerous in large, ovoid to conical, dense, terminal heads; flower-head surrounded by a series of long, narrowly lanceolate, upward-curving, bracts, some of which are longer than the flower-head; each flower surrounded by a cup-shaped epicalyx with an apical spine; calyx often concealed by the epicalyx, hairy, margin entire; corolla slightly irregular, with a long tube and 4 lobes; stamens 4; ovary inferior, style solitary.
Fruits: An achene.
Habitat: Waste ground and roadsides.
Distribution: Very rare.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No