Monographs Details:
Authority:

Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
Family:

Asteraceae
Scientific Name:

Sonchus oleraceus L.
Description:

Species Description - Erect herb to 1 m tall, simple or sometimes branched; stems hollow, striate. Leaves 5-30 x 1.3-12 cm, obovate to oblanceolate, membranous, glabrous, mostly incised, denticulate, apical segment more or less truncate, the apex acute to obtuse, basal segment often narrowed into a distinct, winged, mostly entiremargined petiolar base, expanded into auricles clasping the stem, the teeth callose-mucronate. Inflorescence an open panicle, peduncles with gland-tipped bristles. Heads showy, 20 or more flowered; involucre bell-shaped, 10-20 mm tall; involucral bracts many in several, graduated, overlapping series, the outermost series small and obovate with acuminate apex, the innermost series nearly the length of the head and more linear. The outermost series of flowers slightly larger than the inner ones. Corollas yellow, ca. 11 mm long, the tube pubescent. Achenes flattened, ca. 3.5 mm long, rugose; pappus dimorphic, ca. 5-11 mm long, of numerous white, persistent hairs and fewer, thicker, strigillose, deciduous bristles.

Discussion:

Common names: sow thistle, wild salad.

Distribution:

Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America|