Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Dipsacus fullonum L. subsp. fullonum

Synonyms

Dipsacus sylvestris Huds.
Dipsacus fullonum L.

Family

Dipsacaceae

Common Names

common teasel, Fuller's teasel, teasel, wild teasel, wild teazel, wild teazle

Origin

Native to northern Africa (i.e. northern Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia), Europe (i.e. Ireland, UK, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania, Yugoslavia, France, Portugal, Spain, Moldova and Ukraine) and western Asia (i.e. Lebanon, Syria and northern Turkey).

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised in south-eastern Australia (i.e. on the central and southern tablelands of New South Wales, in southern and eastern Victoria and in Tasmania).

Naturalised overseas in southern Africa, New Zealand, USA and South America.

Notes

Wild teasel (Dipsacus fullonum subsp. fullonum ) is regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria and Tasmania. While it is mainly a weed of pastures and roadsides, it sometimes also grows in natural communities and forms a large basal rosette of leaves in the early stages of growth. This rosette of leaves can cover a large area and shade other ground-dwelling plants nearby.