Sonchus asper
| Sonchus asper | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Late Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Sonchus asper (common name: prickly sow thistle)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring or late summer in situ.
Cultivation: Succeeds in most soils in a sunny position.
This plant has been cultivated for its edible leaves by the Maoris in New Zealand[1].
Range: Europe, including Britain, south and east from Scandanavia to N. Africa, N. and W. Asia.
Habitat: Cultivated soil and waste places[2].
Edibility: Tender young leaves and stem tops - raw or cooked[3][4][1][5][6]. They can be added to salads or used like spinach[7]. The young leaves have a mild agreeable flavour[8]. The stems should be bruised and the bitter-tasting milky juice washed out before eating or cooking them[7].
The stems have been peeled and eaten raw like celery[9].
Medicinal: The plant is pounded and applied as a poultice to wounds and boils[10][6].
Pollinators: Bees, hoverflies
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Seed Ripens: Mid Summer-Early Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Brooker, Stanley. Economic Native Plants of New Zealand. Oxford University Press, 1991.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Cribb, Alan and Joan Cribb. Wild Food in Australia. Fontana, 1976.
- ↑ Yanovsky, Elias. Food Plants of the North American Indians Publication 237. US Department of Agriculture.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Manandhar, Narayan. Plants and People of Nepal. Timber Press, 2002.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Les Ecologistes de l'Euzière. Les Salades Sauvages. 1994.
- ↑ Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ Chopra, R. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1986.