Dried large, spiny, club-like flower heads, some over two inches long and loosely enclosed in cage-like bracts add shapes and colors to Winter landscapes.
Common Teasel’s unique form has allowed it to garner many common names like barber’s brush, brushes and combs, card teasel, church broom, gypsy combs and Venus’ cup – just to name a few.
When alive and green in the Summer, numerous tiny purple flowers appear in circular rows around the flower heads. Here’s one in August being visited by a Tiger Swallowtail.
Common Teasel is native to Europe and was imported into North America, possibly as an ornamental or more likely because the dried flowers were used in wool production. The dried heads were once cultivated by wool companies, fixed as spindles and used to raise nap or tease wool cloth, hence the common name.
This plant tends to be found in damp grassland and field edges or along roadsides. Although picturesque to look at, Common Teasel also is an excellent source of Summer nectar and pollen for insects and Autumn seeds for birds.