Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Sonchus oleraceus

Buds, flower head, seeds, and leaves. Photographer Jackie Miles

Flowering plant. Photographer Don Wood, Majors Creek south of Braidwood

Common name

Common sowthistle, Sow thistle

Family

Asteraceae

Where found

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

Notes

Introduced annual or biennial herb to about 1.8 m tall.  Stems hairless.  Leaves alternating up the stems, sometimes also in a rosette at the base of the plant, 3-35 cm long, 20-120 mm wide, more or less leathery, hairless, sometimes glaucous, margins entire to dissected, toothed, with soft spines, not prickly, margins always more or less flexible, tips blunt or pointed.  Stem leaves with pointed basal lobes, upper stem leaves strongly stem-clasping.  Flower heads with 80-230 yellow 'petals' each 5-8 mm long. Flower heads behind the ‘petals’ 8-13 mm long, 5-6 mm in diameter, oval to top shaped. Flower heads in open clusters of few to many flower heads.  Flowers most of the year.

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~oleraceus  (accessed 6 February, 2021)