''Sonchus palustris'', commonly known as marsh sowthistle, is a plant native to temperate regions of the Europe, Russia, Central Asia, and

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

in western China. It has also become naturalized in a few locations in the Canadian Province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. ''Sonchus palustris'' can be found in damp peaty or silty soils rich in

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

. The species

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

''palustris'' is Latin for "of the marsh" and indicates its common habitat. It is a perennial herb sometimes as much as 350 cm (almost 12 feet) tall. It produces an array of numerous flower heads, each with numerous yellow ray flowers but no disc flowers.Flora of North America, ''Sonchus palustris'' Linnaeus, 1753. Marsh sow-thistle
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References

palustris Flora of temperate Asia Flora of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Cichorieae-stub