Fuller's Teasel, explosive growth in riparian area, Little Sheep Canyon,
near Imnaha, Oregon (Dipsica fullonum) Eurasian native,
invasive in especially the West of North America—

Teasel is an interesting plant in many respects. First, let me say
that it is native to the southern part of the Alps, where it has become
rare. (I've only seen it in ornamental gardens, where Teasel is planted
for its beauty, and have never actually encountered a specimen in the
wild.) Its common name refers to an archaic sense of tease, that of
combing the surface of woolen cloth to raise a nap. In past times when
wool was still harvested and processed on the farmstead, dried teasel
heads were gathered in the fall evidently for this purpose.

Teasel is a low-density weed of rural ditches in Ohio. But I was surprised
to see how explosive it can be, forming unnaturally high-density clusters
like the one shown above. I noticed these clusters for the first time in
Northeast Oregon in riparian areas, especially ones grazed by equally
high densities of cattle.

At a distance, Teasel looks like a thistle—which are all members of
the Aster family—but it isn't. It's a member of its own group, the
Dipsacaceae family.

See the summer photos below for some of this
introduced plant's other unique features.

PROTECTION— Teasel, summer aspect

Teasel, leaf form . . .

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