Burdock Triple Play
Burdock (Articum lappa) is viewed by many as a nuisance weed in vegetable and flower gardens, but all parts of the plant are extremely useful as medicine. It can be found on disturbed ground, in fields or on the edges of the woods. It’s easy to spot by its large leaved and barbed seed pods.
ROOTS It’s most common to find burdock root from medicinal-herb suppliers, perhaps because it’s easy to collect. It must be harvested in late summer or early fall of the plant’s first year. Burdock is a biennial, and if allowed to overwinter, the root begins to rot from the inside out. Burdock root aids in the digestion of fats and oils. It’s served in Japan (where it’s called gobo root) and France as part of rich, dense recipes. In Western herbalism, we know the root best for its abilities as an alterative, which, like red clover, improves the blood. Throughout most of burdock’s written history, there is a running theme that the entire plant is important for its ability to support the health of the liver, the kidneys and the lymphatics and to heal conditions associated with the skin, such as psoriasis and eczema.
SEEDS The seed causes a tingling in the mouth when chewed and can be used to soothe a toothache and promote oral health. Make sure to grind or process the seeds to remove the little sharp points or else they’ll cut your tongue as you chew them. Due to the doctrine of signatures, which says that a plant that resembles a body part can be used to treat that body part, burdock seeds have also long been thought to benefit the kidneys and bladder, and they’ve also been used for arthritis. This is logical in that we often use diuretics, which promote urine flow through the kidneys, to relieve the pain and inflammation of arthritic joints. Even burdock’s burrs can be used medicinally: Infuse them in a tea to benefit the memory.
LEAVES Nicolas Culpeper, a 17th century herbalist and physician, wrote that burdock leaves could be bruised and placed on tendons that are pulled too tightly and are causing pain. In 17th-century Europe, burdock leaves were applied topically in folk medicine to treat burns and tumors. They are today known to be very good for itchy skin rashes, especially eczema, poison ivy and adult acne.