Prickly sowthistle

Sonchus asper

Family · Asteraceae · Irritating

Edible

The sowthistle that pricks. It grows beside the smooth sowthistle, is identical at a distance, and is told apart by the leaf margin and by the ears clasping the stem, coiled into a spiral.

Where it grows

Town and roadside · Fields and pasture · Roadsides and waste ground · Streams and ditches

Also known as

spiny sowthistle, sharp-fringed sowthistle

In flower

How to tell it

A leaf margin with spiny teeth that genuinely prick when you run a hand over them, and a stiff glossy leaf. The two ears clasping the stem are rounded and coil in on themselves, unlike the pointed ears of smooth sowthistle.

What it is confused with

Sow thistle

Sonchus oleraceus

Harmless confusion

Run a hand along the margin: this one pricks, the smooth one does not. And the ears clasping the stem: coiled and round here, pointed and straight on the smooth one. Both edible, but only one is worth it.

Open sheet →

What it is for

Eaten cooked, like smooth sowthistle, but far less pleasant: the leaf is stiff and the prickles do not fully soften. Universal food for rabbits and hens.

Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.

Sources

Flora-On