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Sonchus oleraceus (L.) L.

Common sowthistle
Synonym: Sonchus laevis Willd

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Description

Sonchus oleraceus is an erect annual herb, usually 30–150 cm tall, producing abundant white milky latex. Stems are hollow, smooth, and branched near the apex. Leaves are alternate, soft, pinnatifid to lobed, with irregularly toothed margins and clasping auriculate bases. Unlike S. asper, the leaves are thin, dull green, and only weakly prickly. Flower heads are bright yellow and arranged in loose terminal clusters. All florets are ligulate. Fruits are flattened brown achenes with several longitudinal ribs and a conspicuous white pappus.

Diagnostic Characters

Vegetative
Hollow stems with soft, deeply lobed, clasping leaves and abundant milky latex.
Floral
Bright yellow ligulate flower heads arranged in loose terminal clusters.
Fruit & Seed
Ribbed brown achenes with a white pappus.

Distribution

Native range: Europe, North Africa, and western Asia.

Introduced range: Widely naturalized throughout tropical and temperate regions worldwide.

In Pakistan: Common throughout Pakistan in cultivated fields, gardens, orchards, roadsides, and waste places.

Phenology

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Flowering
Fruiting
Flowering: February–October Fruiting: March–November

Ethnobotany & Uses

Food Uses
Young leaves and shoots are edible and consumed raw in salads or cooked as a leafy vegetable.
Medicinal Uses
Traditionally used as a diuretic, anti-inflammatory, febrifuge, and for treating digestive disorders.
Other Uses
Provides forage for livestock but is also considered a common agricultural weed.
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Where it grows on campus

This species is on the campus floristic list but was not pinned during the GPS mapping survey, so it has no map records yet.

Taxonomic Notes

Sonchus oleraceus, commonly known as Common Sow Thistle, is distinguished from S. asper by its softer, thinner leaves with less spiny margins and sharply pointed auricles. It is recognized as an accepted species in Flora of Pakistan, Plants of the World Online (POWO), and World Flora Online (WFO).