Scientific name: Sonchus oleraceus L.
Common name: Sow-thistle
Description
Habit: Annual, 30-80 cm high.
Stems: Hollow, hairless, with latex.
Leaves: Alternate, pinnatifid, slightly bluish-green, almost flat; lower leaves stalked, the upper clasping the stem and with pointed auricles.
Flowers: Yellow, flower-heads numerous, 20-25 mm across in a crowded corymb or irregular umbel; involucral bracts overlapping in several rows; florets all ligulate.
Fruits: An achene, flattened, not beaked, with fine transverse wrinkles; pappus of white unbranched hairs.
Habitat: Roadsides, farmyards, limestone pavement, open habitats, near houses.
Distribution: Frequent on limestone, occasional elsewhere.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No