Sonchus oleraceus

"Notes: Western Ghats & Eastern Ghats, Naturalized, Native of Mediterranean Region"

This plant is a winter or spring annual that is 1-6' tall, branching very little except near the apex where the flowerheads occur. The central stem is hairless and dull green; sometimes it is tinted with reddish purple. The alternate leaves are up to 10" long and 2½" across, becoming smaller and more sparsely distributed as they ascend the central stem. Each leaf is odd pinnate (pinnatifid) with deep triangular lobes; its margins are dentate with soft prickles. The upper leaves are more likely to be entire or have shallow lobes. Like the central stem, each leaf has a dull green upper surface that is hairless; its base may be tinted reddish purple. At this base, there is a pair of pointed basal lobes that extend beyond the stem. The upper stems terminate in small clusters of flowerheads that are about ¾" across when they are fully open; these flowerheads bloom during the morning and close by noon. Each flowerhead consists of numerous yellow ray florets and no disk florets. The floral bracts at the base of the flowerhead are dull green, hairless, and overlap each other in a vertical series. The blooming period occurs from late spring to mid-summer and lasts about a month in a given locale; a few plants may bloom later in the year. Each flowerhead is shortly replaced by numerous achenes with tufts of fluffy white hairs. Each dark achene is somewhat flattened, ribbed, and oblongoid; one end is somewhat broader than the other. Distribution of the achenes is by the wind. The root system consists of a stout taproot. The foliage contains a milky latex. This plant spreads by reseeding itself. Cultivation

Tall annual weed ( up to 1.2 m). A native of Europe and North Africa but now a near cosmopolitan weed.

oleraceus: vegetable-garden herb used in cooking

"

Global Distribution

Cosmopolitan

Indian distribution

State - Kerala, District/s: Kollam, Idukki, Palakkad, Wayanad

"

"Karnataka: Belgaum, Coorg, Hassan, Mysore, N. Kanara Kerala: Idukki, Kollam, Palakkad Tamil Nadu: Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Namakkal, Nilgiri, Salem, Theni, Tirunelveli, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore"

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Common Sowthistle is quite common in central and northern Illinois, but less common or absent in the southern area of the state (see Distribution Map). It is native to Eurasia and North Africa. Habitats include fields, pastures, roadsides, gardens and edges of yards, vacant lots, areas adjacent to buildings, construction sites, and waste places. Disturbed areas are strongly preferred; Common Sowthistle doesn't invade high quality natural areas to any significant degree. Faunal Associations

Nile region, oases, Mediterranean region, Egyptian desert, Res Sea coastal strip and Sinai (St.Katherine).

Sonchus rivularis Phil.:
Chile (South America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Sonchus gracilis Phil.:
Chile (South America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Sonchus oleraceus L.:
Argentina (South America)
Australia (Oceania)
Belize (Mesoamerica)
Bolivia (South America)
Brazil (South America)
Ecuador (South America)
Canada (North America)
Comoros (Africa & Madagascar)
Chile (South America)
El Salvador (Mesoamerica)
Colombia (South America)
Costa Rica (Mesoamerica)
Mexico (Mesoamerica)
United States (North America)
Honduras (Mesoamerica)
Madagascar (Africa & Madagascar)
Panama (Mesoamerica)
Greenland (North America)
Gabon (Africa & Madagascar)
Guatemala (Mesoamerica)
Kenya (Africa & Madagascar)
Tanzania (Africa & Madagascar)
Uganda (Africa & Madagascar)
Peru (South America)
Venezuela (South America)
Nicaragua (Mesoamerica)
Uruguay (South America)
Paraguay (South America)
New Zealand (Oceania)
South Africa (Africa & Madagascar)
Caribbean (Caribbean)
China (Asia)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Sonchus angustissimus Hook. f.:
Cameroon (Africa & Madagascar)
Uganda (Africa & Madagascar)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

A native of Europe and North Africa but now a near cosmopolitan weed.

A cosmopolitan weed.

Annuals or biennials, 10–140(–200) cm. Stem bases soft to hard, herbaceous, often hollow. Leaves: blades of mid cauline spatulate or oblong to obovate or lanceolate, 6–35 × 1–15 cm, bases auriculate, auricles deltate to lanceolate, ± straight, acute, margins usually pinnately (often runcinately) lobed, lobes ± deltate to lanceolate, not constricted at bases, terminals usually larger than laterals, entire or dentate. Peduncles usually glabrous, sometimes stipi-tate-glandular. Involucres 9–13+ mm. Phyllaries usually glabrous, sometimes tomentose and/or stipitate-glandular. Corollas: ligules ± equaling tubes. Cypselae dark brown, mostly oblanceoloid, 2.5–3.5+ mm, ribs 2–4 on each face, faces transversely rugulose or tuberculate across and between ribs; pappi 5–8 mm. 2n = 32, 36.

2300-2800 m

"Annuals, to 90 cm high; stems glandular hairy. Leaves to 15 x 6 cm, runcinate-pinnatifid, with a wide hastate terminal lobe, auricled and amplexicaule at base; lobes spinulose-serrate. Heads 15 x 8 mm, few, in panicled cymes; bracts 10 x 1.5 mm, 3-seriate, oblong, obtuse. Female corolla 12 mm long, limb yellow, 5-lobed; lobes obtuse. Achenes 3 x 1 mm, narrowed to the base, truncate at apex, muriculate; pappus 10 mm long, white, cottony."

Common Sowthistle is quite common in central and northern Illinois, but less common or absent in the southern area of the state (see Distribution Map). It is native to Eurasia and North Africa. Habitats include fields, pastures, roadsides, gardens and edges of yards, vacant lots, areas adjacent to buildings, construction sites, and waste places. Disturbed areas are strongly preferred; Common Sowthistle doesn't invade high quality natural areas to any significant degree. Faunal Associations

Weed of cultivation, waste ground, roadsides, desert wadis and plains.

Foodplant / internal feeder
larva of Acanthiophilus helianthi feeds within capitulum of Sonchus oleraceus

Foodplant / spot causer
amphigenous colony of Alternaria dematiaceous anamorph of Alternaria sonchi causes spots on live leaf of Sonchus oleraceus

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / spot causer
immersed, rather crowded, blackish pycnidium of Ascochyta coelomycetous anamorph of Ascochyta sonchi causes spots on live leaf of Sonchus oleraceus
Remarks: season: 8

Foodplant / parasite
sporangium of Bremia lactucae parasitises live leaf of Sonchus oleraceus
Remarks: season: 9-10
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / parasite
telium of Coleosporium tussilaginis parasitises live Sonchus oleraceus

Foodplant / internal feeder
larva of Ensina sonchi feeds within capitulum of Sonchus oleraceus

Foodplant / parasite
Golovinomyces cichoracearum parasitises live Sonchus oleraceus

Foodplant / sap sucker
Liorrhyssus hyalinus sucks sap of Sonchus oleraceus

Foodplant / miner
often communal larva of Liriomyza sonchi mines leaf of Sonchus oleraceus

Foodplant / parasite
uredinoid, amphigenous aecium of Miyagia pseudosphaeria parasitises live leaf (esp. basal) of Sonchus oleraceus
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / miner
larva of Phytoliriomyza arctica mines stem of Sonchus oleraceus

Foodplant / spot causer
Spermosporina anamorph of Spermosporina sonchi-oleracei causes spots on live leaf of Sonchus oleraceus

Foodplant / false gall
larva of Tephritis formosa causes swelling of capitulum of Sonchus oleraceus

Foodplant / internal feeder
larva of Trupanea amoena feeds within capitulum of Sonchus oleraceus

Common

Annual or perennial.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 17
Specimens with Barcodes: 53
Species With Barcodes: 1

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked