Sonchus

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Sonchus

Puha redirects here - for the small settlement in New Zealand's North Island, see Puha, New Zealand
Puha, New Zealand

Puha is a small settlement in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It is located close to the confluence of the Waikohu River and Waipaoa Rivers on State Highway 2 close to te Karaka, inland from Gisborne....
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Sow thistles (less commonly hare thistles or hare lettuces) are annual herbs in the genus Sonchus, after their Ancient Greek
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
name. All are characterized by soft, somewhat irregularly lobed leaves
Leaves

Leaves are an Iceland five-piece alternative rock band who formed in 2001. They came to prominence in 2002 with their debut album, Breathe, drawing comparisons to groups such as Coldplay and Doves....
that clasp the stem and, at least initially, form a basal rosette.

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Encyclopedia

Puha redirects here - for the small settlement in New Zealand's North Island, see Puha, New Zealand
Puha, New Zealand

Puha is a small settlement in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It is located close to the confluence of the Waikohu River and Waipaoa Rivers on State Highway 2 close to te Karaka, inland from Gisborne....
.

Sow thistles (less commonly hare thistles or hare lettuces) are annual herbs in the genus Sonchus, after their Ancient Greek
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
name. All are characterized by soft, somewhat irregularly lobed leaves
Leaves

Leaves are an Iceland five-piece alternative rock band who formed in 2001. They came to prominence in 2002 with their debut album, Breathe, drawing comparisons to groups such as Coldplay and Doves....
that clasp the stem and, at least initially, form a basal rosette. The stem
Plant stem

A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaf, inflorescence , conifer cones or other stems etc....
contains a milky sap. Flower heads
Head (botany)

The capitulum is considered the most derived form of inflorescence. Flower heads found outside Asteraceae shows lesser degrees of specialization....
are yellow and range in size from half to one inch in diameter; the florets
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
are all of ray type. Sow thistles are common roadside plants, and while native to Eurasia
Eurasia

Eurasia is a large landmass covering about 53,990,000 km? or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface . Often considered a single continent, Eurasia comprises the traditional continents of Europe and Asia, concepts which date back to classical antiquity and the borders for which are somewhat arbitrary....
and tropical Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, they are found almost worldwide in temperate
Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold....
regions. Like the true thistle
Thistle

Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaf with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the plant family Asteraceae....
s, sow thistles are in the family Asteraceae
Asteraceae

The family Asteraceae or Compositae is the largest family of flowering plants, in terms of number of species.The name 'Asteraceae' is derived from the type genus Aster , while 'Compositae', an older but still valid name, means composite and refers to the characteristic inflorescence, a special type of pseudanthium found in o...
.

Mature sow thistle stems can range from 30 cm
Metre

The metre or meter is a Unit of measurement of length. It is the SI base unit of length in the metric system and in the International System of Units , used around the world for general and scientific purposes....
to 2 m
Metre

The metre or meter is a Unit of measurement of length. It is the SI base unit of length in the metric system and in the International System of Units , used around the world for general and scientific purposes....
(1 to 6 feet) tall, depending upon species and growing conditions. Colouration ranges from green to purple in older plants. Sow thistles exude a milky latex
LaTeX

LaTeX is a document markup language and Word processor for the TeX typesetting program. Within the typesetting system, its name is styled as ....
when any part of the plant is cut or damaged, and it is from this fact that the plants obtained the common name, "sow thistle", as they were fed to lactating sows
Pig

Pigs, also called hogs or swine, are a genus of even-toed ungulates within the Family Suidae. The name pig, hog, or swine most commonly refers to the Domestic pig in everyday parlance, but technically encompasses several distinct species, including the Wild Boar....
in the belief that milk
Milk

Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals . It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborn mammals before they are able to digestion other types of food....
production would increase. Sow thistles are known as "milk thistles" in some regions, although true milk thistle
Milk thistle

Milk thistles are thistles of the genus Silybum Adans., flowering plants of the daisy family . They are native to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East....
s belong to the genus Silybum.

Sow thistles have been used as fodder, particularly for rabbit
Rabbit

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world. There are seven different genus in the family taxonomy as rabbits, including the European rabbit , Cottontail rabbit , and the Amami rabbit ....
s, hence the other common names of "hare thistle" or "hare lettuce". They are also edible to human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
s as a leaf vegetable
Leaf vegetable

Leaf vegetables, also called potherbs, greens, or leafy greens, are plant leaf eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender Petiole s and shoots....
; old leaves and stalks can be bitter but young leaves have a flavour similar to lettuce
Lettuce

Lettuce is a temperate annual plant or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. In many countries, it is typically eaten cold, raw, in salads, hamburgers, tacos, and in many other dishes....
. Going by the name puha or rareke (raraki) it is frequently eaten in New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
as a vegetable, particularly by the native Maori
Maori

The Maori are the indigenous people Polynesian people of Aotearoa . The group probably arrived in south-western Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300....
. When cooked it tastes a little similar to chard
Chard

Chard , also known by the common names Swiss Chard, Silverbeet, Perpetual Spinach, Spinach Beet, Crab Beet, Seakale Beet and Mangold, is a leafy vegetable and a Beta vulgaris subsp....
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In many areas sow thistles are considered noxious weeds, as they grow quickly in a wide range of conditions and their wind-borne seed
Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
s allow them to spread rapidly. Sonchus arvensis, the perennial sow thistle, is considered the most economically detrimental, as it can crowd commercial crops
Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
, is a heavy consumer of nitrogen
Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674?. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere....
in soil
Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
s, and can regrow and sprout additional plants from its creeping root
Root

In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial root or aerating ....
s. However, sow thistles are easily uprooted by hand, and their soft stems present little resistance to slashing or mowing. Most livestock
Livestock

Livestock is the term used to refer to a domesticated animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to produce things such as food or fibre, or for its labour....
will readily devour sow thistle in preference to grass
Grass

Grass is the common word that generally describes monocotyledonous green plants. The family Poaceae are the "true grasses" and include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns ....
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Sow thistles are common host plants for aphids. Gardeners may consider this a benefit or a curse; aphids may spread from sow thistle to other plants, but alternatively the sow thistle can encourage the growth of beneficial predators such as hoverflies
Hoverfly

Fly in the family Syrphidae are commonly known as hoverflies, flower flies, or syrphid flies.As their common names suggest, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae eat a wide range of foods....
. In this regard sow thistles make excellent sacrificial plants. Sonchus species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
species including Broad-barred White
Broad-barred White

The Broad-barred White is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout Europe.This is a fairly small but distinctive species, the white forewings marked with a broad dark brown band....
, Grey Chi
Grey Chi

The Grey Chi is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout Europe.This species has grey forewings speckled with black markings which vary in intensity ....
, The Nutmeg
Nutmeg (moth)

The Nutmeg , also known as the Clover Cutworm, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout Europe although in the north of its range it is a summer Insect migration, not being able to survive the cold winters....
and The Shark
Shark (moth)

The Shark is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout Europe.This is a fairly large species with long, narrow wings giving a 'streamlined' appearance....
.
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