7/08/10 A BAYFIELD GIANT

A CALM CROSSING
LEAF OF GIANT BURDOCK
GIANT BURDOCK

Thursday, 7:00 AM. 67 degrees, wind W, very light. The sky is virtually cloudless except for a few on the eastern horizon. The barometer predicts rain but I think it is a weak and slow moving front. The house is very quiet with the Denver contingent gone home.
The great burdock, Arctius lappa, is a Eurasian biennial plant naturalized throughout much of southern Canada and the northern U.S., but I don’t think it is very common. It is interesting to me particularly because of its huge size, this one on 9th street is about 8 feet tall with proportionately large basal leaves. The flowers are blue or purple and the seed heads are covered with spiny hairs. There are several similar species and they hybridize readily.