Dipsacus fullonum

Wild teasel
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Dipsacales
Family:	Caprifoliaceae
Genus:	Dipsacus
Species:	D. fullonum
Binomial name
Dipsacus fullonum L.
Synonyms[1]
List Dipsacus arcimusci Lojac. Dipsacus botterii Maly ex Nyman Dipsacus carminatorius Salisb. Dipsacus connatofolius Gilib. nom. inval. Dipsacus divaricatus C.Presl Dipsacus horridus Opiz Dipsacus meyeri Chabert Dipsacus mirabilis Gand. Dipsacus morisonii Boreau Dipsacus orsini Sanguin. Dipsacus palustris Salisb. Dipsacus purpurascens Gand. Dipsacus silvester A.Kern. Dipsacus sinuatus Schltdl. ex Roem. & Schult. Dipsacus sylvestris Huds. Dipsacus vulgaris C.C.Gmel.

Dipsacus fullonum, syn. Dipsacus sylvestris, is a species of flowering plant known by the common names wild teasel or fuller's teasel, although the latter name is usually applied to the cultivated variety D. fullonum var. sativus.^[2] It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, but it is known in the Americas, southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand as an introduced species.

It is a herbaceous biennial plant (rarely a short-lived perennial plant) growing to 1–2.5 metres (3.3–8.2 ft) tall. The inflorescence is a cylindrical array of lavender flowers which dries to a cone of spine-tipped hard bracts. It may be 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long. The dried inflorescence of a cultivar was historically used in textile manufacturing as a tool for fulling.