Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Sonchus asper

Flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, ACT

Flowering plant. Photographer Don Wood, near Pambula Lake

Flowering plant. Photographer Jackie Miles

Common name

Prickly sowthistle, Rough sowthistle

Family

Asteraceae

Where found

Dry forest, woodland, grassy areas, disturbed sites, and roadsides. Widespread.

Notes

Introduced annual or biennial herb to 1.5 m tall.  Leaf margins spiny.  Stems hairless.  Leaves basal and alternating up the stems, 4-30 cm long, 20-70 mm wide, hairless, stiff and more or less leathery, rather glossy, glaucous or dark green, margins toothed to dissected, often prickly, sometimes wavy, sometimes entire, tips pointed, bases with stem-clasping rounded auricles. Basal leaves lacking auricles and sometimes forming a rosette. Leaves sometimes compound. Flower heads with 80-300 yellow 'petals' each 4-5 mm long. Flower heads behind the ‘petals’ 10-13 mm long, 5-6 mm in diameter, oval to top shaped. Flower heads in open clusters. Flowers Spring to Summer. 

Was Sonchus asper subsp. glaucescens.

Sonchus asper subsp. asper in Vic.

Intermediate forms between Sonchus asper and Sonchus oleraceus are sometimes seen.

PlantNET description:    http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Sonchus~asper  (accessed 30 January, 2021)