''Sonchus tenerrimus'' is a species of flowering plant in the family
Asteraceae
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...
known by the common name slender sowthistle. It is native to the Mediterranean region of southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East. It has been found as well in several other locations around the world, historically in association with ship
ballast in coastal regions. It has become naturalized in a few places, such as California in the United States and Baja California in Mexico.
[Calflora taxon report, ''Sonchus tenerrimus'' L., slender sow thistle, slender sowthistle ]
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''Sonchus tenerrimus'' is an annual or perennial herb producing a slender, branching stem up to about 80 centimeters (32 inches) tall. The leaves are deeply divided into many variously shaped lobes which may have toothed edges or smaller lobes. The inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
bears flower heads
A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...
lined with glandular, hairy to woolly phyllaries. They are filled with numerous yellow ray florets but no disc florets. The fruit is an achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
up to a centimeter long including its pappus.[Flora of North America, ''Sonchus tenerrimus'' Linnaeus, 1753. Slender sow-thistle ]
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References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment, University of CaliforniaUniversity of California, Calphotos Photos galleryTropicos.org: photo of herbarium specimen collected in Nuevo León in northeastern Mexico in 1992
tenerrimus
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Flora of Malta
{{Cichorieae-stub