Words On Wellness: The Root of the Teasel
The sublime beauty of dried grasses and flowerheads is featured in the autumn light of waning days. Appreciating them helps us appreciate and accept the process of our transforming body and the cycle of birth, death and reseeding. One of the plants that shows up more obviously in its age are dried seed-heads of wild teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris). It was introduced here from Europe/North Africa where the elongated thistle-like flowerheads were used as a substitute for indigo dye and to card wool (a cultivated variety Dipsacus fullonum was used for the textile industry). In some areas, teasel has taken over native vegetation and considered a pest but like so many invasive species, it has medicinal qualities.
The root of teasel has been used for thousands of years as medicine to invigorate liver function, strengthen the stomach, heal fractures, injured tendons, fistulae and conditions such as arthritis. Included in salves for the treatment of the warts, psoriasis and cancerous sores, teasel was a popular folk medicine. It is also a homeopathic medicine for skin diseases. Known for centuries in Chinese medicine as Xu Duan, a word meaning “Restore What is Broken”, it has gained in modern use for treating Lyme by driving bacteria from the body out into the bloodstream, thus assisting with antibiotic or complementary treatments. Teasel is a biennial, so the time to harvest is fall to early spring from those plants starting their second year of growth (i.e. the end of the first year of growth), At that time, teasel is a large dense, rosette of basal leaves before the stalk is formed.
With winter rains, water collects in the cup-like receptacles that form where leaves join the stem. These small pools serve to drown sap-sucking insects and this carnivorous quality allows the plant to produce more seeds.
Our coast doesn’t feature many teasels but you can occasionally find them in open, grassy areas, especially further inland. Teasels are sometimes grown as ornamentals since the dried heads are used in floristry. With multiple flowers on stalks up to six feet tall, the seeds they produce are important winter food for some birds like goldfinches. The purple to dark pink or lavender flowers provide a rich source of pollen and nectar for bees and butterflies during the spring and summer months.
