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Dipsacus sativus

Common name:	Fuller's Teasel	Family:	Dipsacaceae
Author:	(L.)Honck.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:	Dipsacus fullonum sativus ((L.) Thellung.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Of uncertain origin. An occasional escape from cultivation in Britain[17].
Habitat:	Not known in a truly wild condition.
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	D. fullonum ssp. sativus[B,P] D. fullonum var. sativus[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Fuller's Teasel [H], Indian Teasel [B,P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	sativus = cultivated
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Dipsacales. Teasel family
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Iowa.

Physical Characteristics

Biennial/Perennial growing to 1.8m. It is hardy to zone 5 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. The plant is self-fertile. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Cancer Diaphoretic Diuretic Homeopathy Stomachic Warts.

The root is diaphoretic, diuretic and stomachic[7]. An infusion is said to strengthen the stomach, create an appetite, remove obstructions of the liver and treat jaundice[4]. The root is harvested in early autumn and dried for later use[7].
The plant has a folk history of use in the treatment of cancer, an ointment made from the roots is used to treat warts, wens and whitlows[4, 218].
A homeopathic remedy is made from the flowering plant[7]. It is used in the treatment of skin diseases[7].

Other Uses

Brush Dye.

The dried flower heads are used for carding wool and as a clothes brush for raising the nap on woollen cloth[7, 46, 74, 169]. They are harvested with about 20cm of stem as soon as the flowers wither and are dried for later use[4].
A blue dye is obtained from the dried plant, an indigo substitute[74]. It is water soluble[74]. The colour is yellow when mixed with alum[148].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in most soils[1] but prefers clay[17]. Prefers a deep rich soil[169]. Requires a sunny position[169].
A good butterfly plant[24].
Fuller's teasel is occasionally cultivated for its seed head, which is used for carding cloth[1, 2, 46]. The flowering heads are also much prized by flower arrangers because they keep their colour almost indefinitely when dried[7].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in early spring in situ[115]. The seed can also be sown from February to May or from August to October. All but the earlier sowings can be made outdoors.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Dipsacaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[24] Baines. C. Making a Wildlife Garden.
Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[115] Johnson. C. P. The Useful Plants of Great Britain.
Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.

[148] Niebuhr. A. D. Herbs of Greece. Herb Society of America. 1970
A pleasant little book about Greek herbs.

[169] Buchanan. R. A Weavers Garden.
Covers all aspects of growing your own clothes, from fibre plants to dyes.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

Readers Comments

Dipsacus sativus

Alan S. Raistrick (alan@sraistrick.freeserve.co.uk) Thu Jun 13 08:35:40 2002

I'm intrigued by you saying under Dipsacus sativus that it was used for carding wool. I've been back to the 12th century and I've not found any evidence of this. The actual textile use is for raising the nap on woollen cloth by fullers. The hooks on the flower heads make this possible. It seems a myth has arisen about carding because of possible misunderstandings of terminology. Apparently mediaeval latin writers forgot that the true fullers teasel was known as Dipsacus by the classical latin writers and started calling it Carduus, or thistle. If you actually have any evidence for this use other than a completely unsupported statement in Rita Buchanan's book [169] I'd love to hear about it.

Incidentally dear old Charley Linne got the name wrong and confused umpteen generations by calling the plant without hooks on its flowerhead Dipsacus fullonum, when it is quite useless for fullers

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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