Purple & sticky

Burdock  (Lappa minor) in median strip of Shaker Blvd. -- the inspiration for Velcro!  It really is prickery.  Very invasive weed, loves vacant lots & rubble dump sites!  Don't take your pet for a walk where this is.  From Eurasia, used in medicine, early arrival in North America ( listed in 1672), mentioned in Shakespeare's "As You Like It":  "I could shake them off my (petticoat) (but) these burrs are in my heart."  
--from "Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast," thx to D.