teasel

1) A plant, the heads of which have hooked prickles.

These were used by clothiers to tease cloth, thereby raising the nap. Some were imported in earlier centuries and Somerset later provided large quantities to the trade. However, from the mid eighteenth century Sherburn in Elmet was at the centre of a teasel-growing area which supplied local demand until c.1850: 1461 10 skyve tasells, Hull

1562 Taysles iijs iiijd, Kendal.

places Hull Kendal
dates 1461 1562

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Photo by Kreuzschnabel CC BY-SA 3.0