Walton Hall Nature Trail, teasel

Teasels are common on the clay soils in this part of the country. They are biennials producing a large prickly rosette of leaves in the first year. This soon withers away in the second year as nutrients are used up to produce the main flowering stem. Rosettes are found in several places along the river although they can be confused with another prickly plant which is even more common in Milton Keynes especially on new roads and disturbed land, the yellow flowered Bristly Oxtongue (Picris echioides).

Back to Nature Trail