Another name

Popeye, evil substance, hook

morphological character

Biennial herb. The fleshy roots are 40-50 cm long. The stem is erect, stout, 1-2m high, with longitudinal stripes, purplish hair and many branches on the upper part. Basal leaves are clustered; Lotus leaves alternate, broadly ovate or heart-shaped, 40-50 cm long and 30-40-50 cm wide, with blunt apex, usually heart-shaped, entire, wavy or straight serrated at the base, green at the top, glabrous, densely covered with gray fluff at the bottom, and stipitate; The upper leaves have a small gradient. The flower heads are clustered or arranged in an umbrella shape; The involucre is spherical, the involucre is needle-shaped, with a length of 1-2 cm, and the top is hooked and bent inward; Tubular flowers, red and purple, with five teeth at the top. Achene, oval or obovate, about 5 mm long and 3 mm wide, gray-black; The crown hair is short and hard (Figure 69).

Fig. 69 burdock

great burdock

geographical distribution

In China, it is widely distributed from northeast to southwest, and also cultivated; Abroad, distributed in Europe and Asian countries.

Biological and ecological characteristics

The seedlings of burdock grew slowly that year. Mainly to accelerate the growth of succulent taproots and form a large basal leaf cluster. Without stalks, you can't blossom and bear fruit. The young plants of the first year overwinter in the subtropical zone as green bodies; The temperate zone overwinters with tillers. In the second year, it turns green and shoots in March-April, branches in May-June, buds bloom in July-August, fruits gradually mature in August-65438+1October, and old plants die.

Burdock breeds by seeds. There are thorns on the fruit, which are spread by animals. After overwintering, the seeds germinate and emerge from April to June of the following year. Seeds in the soil will lose their germination ability after one year.

Burdock is a widely distributed species in ecological amplitude. The climate from cold temperate zone to subtropical zone can be well adapted; It can grow on all kinds of soil, and the most suitable soil pH range is 6.5-8.5.

Burdock likes to be born on wet and fertile land such as village roadside, riverside grassland, hillside grassland, shrub forest and farmland wasteland. It usually grows in fields, roadsides and overgrazing grasslands. Sometimes a small community with burdock as the dominant species is formed.

Feeding value

Burdock leaves are soft and juicy before flowering, but because of its fluffy and smelly back, domestic animals generally don't eat it in the green grass period, especially in the case of abundant fine grass. But in the absence of forage, all livestock can eat it. At seedling stage, tender branches and leaves are good feed for pigs, and rabbits also like to eat them. Its seeds contain a lot of protein and oil, which is a good concentrate and is loved by all kinds of livestock and poultry. Its fleshy taproot is rich in carbohydrates and protein, which is liked by pigs after cooking.

Burdock is rich in nutrition, fresh leaves are rich in crude protein, crude fat and crude ash, and there is little crude fiber. The composition of dry stems and leaves is slightly lower than that of fresh leaves (Table 69- 1). Seeds contain 15-20% crude fat and 25% crude protein. The whole plant also contains 0.03% volatile oil and some arctigenin. If we can try to get rid of its odor, it will greatly improve the feeding value.

Table 69— 1 The chemical constituents of burdock are quoted from China Feed Composition and Nutritional Value Table, Agricultural Press, 1985. (%)

Burdock has low energy value. However, the digestible crude protein content is high (Table 69-2). Burdock is a medium feed plant.

Table 69-2 Energy value and digestible protein content of burdock are quoted from China feed composition and nutritional value table and pig and chicken feed composition and nutritional value table.

Burdock plants are tall and have large and abundant leaves. In the first year of growth, the grass yield is low, and the hay yield is 2750 kg/ha; The annual output in the second year can reach more than 15000 kg/ha. Therefore, burdock is a high-yield feed plant.

The tender leaves and petioles of burdock can be eaten as vegetables. The fleshy roots are rich in inulin and sucrose and can also be eaten.

When using turquoise feed for goby, it is advisable to collect its tender stems and leaves in leafy period or turning green period; If dried hay or used as silage material, it should be harvested before flowering. At this time, the grass quality is good and the grass yield is high. If the seeds are harvested, they should be harvested in September-10, when the seeds are yellow and mature.

The roots, stems and seeds of burdock can be used as medicine. Seeds used as medicine are called big chestnuts, which are mainly used for wind-heat phlegm and cough, sore throat, impenetrable macula, carbuncle, sore poison, constipation and so on.