Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Sonchus hydrophilus

Flower and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, south of Bermagui

Flowering and seeding stems. Photographer Jackie Miles

Flowering plant. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, south of Bermagui

Common name

Native sowthistle

Family

Asteraceae

Where found

In temporarily wet ground, and the margins of lakes and streams. Coastal. Occasionally elsewhere.

Notes

Annual, biennial, or perennial herb, to 1.7 m tall. Stems hairless. Leaves soft to mildly papery, hairless, sometimes glaucous, margins toothed to lobed or dissected, and not spiny. Basal leaves 5-30 cm long, 10-50 mm wide, tips mucronate, in a rosette. Stem leaves alternating up the stems, 10-40 cm long, 20-60 mm wide, upper leaves with strongly stem-clasping rounded basal lobes, tips pointed. Flower heads with 100-200 yellow 'petals' each 4-5 mm long. Flower heads behind the ‘petals’ 10-15 mm long, 10-20 mm in diameter. Flower heads in open clusters. Flowers most of the year.

All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Sonchus~hydrophilus  (accessed 6 February, 2021)