Greater Burdock
Arctium lappa
Found in fields and roadsides. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- 2–10 feet
- Spread
- 2–4 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Biennial
- Bloom
- July to November
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 3 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
21CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Arctium
- Anagrapha falciferaCelery Looper Moth
- Apatelodes torrefactaSpotted Apatelodes
- Autographa precationisCommon Looper Moth
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
- Epiblema scudderianaScudder's Epiblema, Goldenrod Gall Moth
- Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
- Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
- Ogdoconta cinereolaCommon Pinkband Groundling
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Papaipema cerussataIronweed Borer Moth
Show all 21
- Papaipema harrisiiHeracleum Stem Borer Moth, Cow Parsnip Borer
- Papaipema marginidensBrick-Red Borer
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Platyptilia carduidactylusArtichoke Plume Moth
- Ponometia candefactaOlive-Shaded Bird-Dropping Moth
- Ponometia erastrioidesSmall Bird-Dropping Moth
- Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
- Vanessa virginiensisAmerican Lady, American Painted Lady
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Arctium
- Melissodes desponsus
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Arctium
- Perdix perdixGray Partridge
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–10b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to neutral
- Flower color
- Purple
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–10b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “2–10 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Life cycle · “Biennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil pH · “Acidic to neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “2–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Great Bur Dock; Great Burdock; Greater Bur Dock
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications