Burdock is one of the foremost detoxifying herbs in both Chinese and Western herbal medicine[254]. Arctium lappa is the main species used, though this species has similar properties.

A fibre is obtained from the inner bark and is used to make paper. It is about 0.9mm long. The stems are harvested in late summer, the leaves are removed and the stems steamed in order to strip off the fibre. The fibres are then cooked for two hours in soda ash before being put in a ball mill for 2 hours. The resulting paper is a light tan/ brown colour.