The terminal flower head of Dipsacus chinensis is worth growing this straggly lank herbaceous perennial for, alone. The plant itself will not look a picture in the border but the salt and pepper effect of the black anthers which nestle down amongst the white petals of this “Teasel”; make it a good plant for the back of the border.

The inflorescence is a globose cone shape with extended spine tipped bracts protruding. These are often collected for winter decoration as dry seed heads once seed dispersal has occurred. The seed for this plant was collected from an open grassy area near Zhongdian at 3190 metres during the 1990 CLD expedition to SW China.

Dipsacus chinensis

Dipsacus chinensis