Common name:
Smooth sow-thistle
Family:
Scientific name:
Sonchus oleraceus
Main flower color:
Range:
All parts of the UK, except the Scottish Highlands
Height:
Up to 150 cm
Habitat:
Fields, waste ground, open woodland
Flowers:
Flowerheads are up to 25 mm in diameter, in an open cluster; they have pale yellow florets above a bell-shaped involucre, lined with overlapping, dark green phyllaries, in several rows. Phyllaries may have a few weak hairs at the tip or along the midvein. Stems are stout, ridged and usually hairless
Leaves:
Pinnately divided into ovate lobes, lined by small teeth, and with backwards-projecting lobes at the base
Season:
May to October
Rarity:
★★★★★
