Wild Teasel is a very decorative biennial wild plant, best known for its winter seedheads, which look magnificent on a frosty day. It’s a great favourite as an ornamental plant in natural gardens and in flowerbeds. The flower-heads are a rich and valuable food source for wild bees, bumblebees, butterflies and many other beneficial insects. In winter, too, the seedheads are not just beautiful to look at but provide vital nourishment for many bird species – goldfinches and bullfinches are among the most frequent visitors. One of this plant’s especially interesting features is its leaves, which are joined together, forming tiny cups that act as reservoirs for rainwater and dew. These little water pools serve as an obstacle stopping ants that try to climb up the stem. Teasel root has a long tradition as a medicinal plant, used for stomach and liver complaints and for rheumatism. In recent times, Wild Teasel has repeatedly been linked with treatments for Lyme disease, although this has not as yet been scientifically proven. The plant also had a traditional craft application: weavers used the spiny seedheads to comb or tease wool. Teasel is edible but has not been widely used in cooking. Only the roots have been used occasionally in herbal liqueurs.
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