Sonchus oleraceus L.

  • 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

    Uncommon weed of moist soils. Cinnamon Bay (W681). Also found on St. Croix, St. Thomas (fide Lessing in Schlechtendal, 1831), and Tortola; native to temperate regions of the Old World, but widely distributed as a weed in temperate and tropical regions.

    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|