Some similarities to : Spear Thistle flower heads.

Related to: Small Teasel, Cut-Leaved Teasel and Yellow Teasel. which all belong in the same Genus, Dipsacus.

Wild Teasel starts flowering in a band around the middle of the head, which then spreads upwards and downwards, with the middle petals falling out as the flowers progresses up and down. Eventually, all the petals have dropped off leaving a myriad of holes.

A yellow dye can be extracted from this plant.

The birds love the seeds. Spreads rapidly around the same area by bird-dropped seed. Starting from a lowly single plant, the annual gain factor is about 20, but that will quickly saturate as the inner areas become over-crowded, when only at the periphery can further propagation progress. Habitat includes rough grassy or shrubby ground and waste places.

Wild Teasel is an example of a protocarnivorous plant, one which can physically trap insects (in the case of Wild Teasel by the pool of water that gathers at every pair of leaves where they join the main stem. It is not fully carnivorous, lacking the enzymes necessary to dissolve the insects, but relies more on natural decomposition. Although Wild Teasel is fully capable of growing without insects, it has been proved that it produces more seeds with the dead insects in the water-bowls (but does not itself grow taller or more vigorously).

The prickly seed heads, when dried, are used as ornamental decorative flower arrangement.

Wild Teasel hybridises with:

• Fullers Teasel (Dipsacus sativus) but which only occurs rarely where both parents earlier grew.
• Cut-Leaved Teasel (Dipsacus lacinatus) which grows taller than Wild Teasel by up to 1m (2m high for Wild Teasel, up to 3m occasionally versus 3m high, up to 4m occasionally for Cut-Leaved Teasel. Its prickles are also less stout than those of Wild Teasel.