Common Name: TEASEL FAMILY
Habit: Annual to perennial herb [(shrub)], armed or not. Stem: generally branched. Leaf: simple, generally in basal rosettes and cauline, generally opposite, +- fused around stem, entire, toothed, or pinnately lobed or dissected, petioled or not; stipules 0. Inflorescence: head, terminal, on long peduncle, many-flowered, dense, +- spheric or cylindric, subtended by involucre; each flower generally +- enclosed by involucel of 1--2 generally fused bractlets, this generally expanded above or in fruit, generally subtended by 1 receptacle bract. Flower: bisexual, +- bilateral, especially outermost; calyx limb cup-shaped or divided into 4--5(10) linear or bristle-like segments; corolla +- funnel-shaped, lobes 4--5, < tube, generally unequal; stamens generally 4, attached to corolla tube, alternate lobes; ovary inferior, 1-chambered, style +- exserted from corolla, stigma generally 2-lobed. Fruit: achene, enclosed by sometimes enlarged involucel, generally topped by persistent calyx.
Genera In Family: 10--11 genera, 270--350 species: Europe to eastern Asia, central and southern Africa; several cultivated for ornament.
eFlora Treatment Author: Charles D. Bell & Elizabeth McClintock
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.

Common Name: TEASEL
Habit: Biennial, armed with prickles or spines +- throughout. Stem: erect, generally < 2 m, stout, few-branched, rough-hairy. Leaf: generally < 5 dm, entire or toothed. Inflorescence: generally +- cylindric; involucre bracts unequal, linear, receptacle bract ending in a spine. Flower: calyx limb cup-shaped, persistent; corolla generally lavender (white), tube long, lobes unequal; stamens 4. Fruit: 4-angled, hairy.
Etymology: (Greek: thirst, from leaf bases that in some species hold water)
Unabridged Reference: Ferguson & Brizicky 1965 J Arnold Arbor 46:362--365