''Dipsacus laciniatus'' is a species of flowering plant in the

honeysuckle family The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species, in 33, to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. Centres of diversity are found in eastern North America an ...

known by the common name cutleaf teasel. It is native to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. It is present in North America as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

and

invasive weed An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

. This plant is a perennial herb that may grow up to two to three meters in height. The erect, branching stem is hollow and prickly. The leaves are oppositely arranged, each leaf pair joined around the stem and clasping it, their bases forming a cup which often collects water. The species is

monocarpic Monocarpic plants are those that flower and set seeds only once, and then die. The term is derived from Greek (''mono'', "single" + ''karpos'', "fruit" or "grain"), and was first used by Alphonse de Candolle. Other terms with the same meaning are ...

, living for multiple years but only flowering once before dying. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is an egg-shaped head subtended by long

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. The head may contain up to 1500 flowers. Each individual flower lasts one day. The middle of the head blooms first and then the upper and lower parts. The fruit is an

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

just under a centimeter long.Gucker, Corey L. 2009
''Dipsacus fullonum and ''D. laciniatus''.
In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. The plant reproduces only by seed.Bentivegna, D. J. and R. J. Smeda. (2011)
Cutleaf teasel (''Dipsacus laciniatus''): Seed development and persistence.
''Invasive Plant Science and Management.'' 4(1) 31-37. This teasel may be distinguished from its relative, common teasel (''Dipsacus fullonum'') by flower color and leaf shape. Cutleaf teasel has white flowers and deeply cut leaves, while common teasel has purple flowers and toothed or wavy-edged leaves. Cutleaf teasel is a

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

in the United States, where it is most prevalent in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

and northeastern states. It has been known in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

since before 1900. It is now a dominant species in some areas, such as a

tallgrass prairie The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals (primarily bison) provided periodic disturbances to these ecosystems, limiting the encroach ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. It grows in a variety of habitat types, and does best on good soil; individuals growing on fertile soil reach large, robust sizes. Due to a lack of biological control agents in areas such as the Midwest that it is not native to, it can form large

monoculture In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monoculture is widely used in intensive farming and in organic farming: both a 1,000-hectare/acre cornfield and a 10-ha/acre field of organic kale are ...

s, displacing native species. The plants can also tolerate

saline soils Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the ...

Two moths useful for biological control were tested in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

in 2003-2004 (following the identification of seven insects associated with the plant and their consideration), including the

monophagous A generalist species is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources (for example, a heterotroph with a varied diet). A specialist species can thrive only in a narrow range of env ...

'' Endothenia gentianaeana''. Although ''Endothenia gentianaeana'' was able to be reared in high numbers and its presence was found in nearly 100% of teasel plants surveyed in Slovakia, and despite the high level of damage caused by the second moth, ''Cochylis roseana'' (which was not targeted by local parasitic wasps frequently as was ''Endothenia gentianaeana''), the USDA has not approved either of these moths for introduction as of February 2018. Instead, the USDA continues to suggest the use of herbicidal chemicals. The

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

'' Leipothrix dipsacivagus'' was also suggested as a possible biological control agent in 2007, based on research.Pecinar, I., et al. 2008
Morphological injury to cut-leaf teasel, ''Dipsacus laciniatus'' L. (Dipsacaceae) induced by the eriophyid mite ''Leipothrix dipsacivagus'' Petanovic et Rector (Acari: Eriophyoidea).
''Journal of Plant Interactions''. 4:1-6

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q163681 Caprifoliaceae Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Lebanon