Sonchus asper (L.) Hill, Asteraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Sonchus oleraceus L. var. asper L.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: prickly sow thistle, rough sow thistle, sowthistle, spiny sow thistle

French: laiteron apre, laiteron epineux, lastron piquant

Japanese: oni-nogeshi

Spanish: cardimuelle, cardinche, cerraja, cerraja aspera, cerraja comun, cerraja macho, nilhue, nilhue caballuno

Habit:  herb

Description:  "An herbaceous annual or winter annual; entire plant contains a sticky, white latex; taproot short, bushy with many lateral roots; stems erect, hollow, stout, unbranched or slightly branched, 30 to 150 cm tall, often reddish; may have gland-tipped hairs on upper stems; leaves alternate, 4 to 18 cm long, 0.5 to 5 cm wide, crisped, many-lobed (5 to 11 lobes on each side) with fewer lobes on upper leaves; ear-like basal lobes clasp stem, tip lobe often broadly triangular, rarely divided to the midrib; margins lined with long stiff spines; sometimes purple on lower surface, dark, glossy green above, inflorescence composed of flower heads 1.5 cm long, 1.2 to 2.5 cm in diameter, stalked in a cymose panicle, flask-shaped after opening; involucral bracts 9 to 16 mm long, green, with membranous margins, the inner row much longer than the outer; each capitulum with 25 to 150 ligulate, perfect, pale yellow florets; fruit an achene somewhat flat to obovate, orange-brown at maturity, 2 to 3 mm long, 1 mm wide, margined with a narrow wing, usually with 3 (rarely 4 or 5) distinct longitudinal, transversely wrinkled ribs on each face; spaces between the ribs smooth; pappus white, composed of numerous unbranched hairs united at base into deciduous ring, about 1 cm long.   This species may be identified by the hollow stems, milky juice, firm many-lobed leaves with spiny margins, the inner row of involucral bracts much longer than the outer, and achenes with longitudinal but no transverse ribs"  (Holm et al., 1997; p. 798).

"Annual herbs 1-1.5 dm tall, subglabrous.  Leaves lanceolate to obovate, 8-25 cm long, 2-8 cm wide, pinnatifid to merely toothed, conspicuously prickly, sessile and auriculate, the auricles rounded.  Involucre ca. 10 mm high in fruit. Achenes smooth, sometimes the outer ones slightly roughened, 6 (8-10)-ribbed, ca. 3 mm long, ca. 2-2.5 times as long as wide" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 358).

Habitat/ecology:  "Invades disturbed sites.  Achieves more ground cover cover in silty loam and clay soils than in sandy soils.  Plants tolerate saline soils, but not moisture stress"  (Holm et al., 1997; p. 798).

Propagation:  Wind-borne seed (Holm et al., 1997; p. 799).

Native range:  Europe, now a cosmopolitan weed (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 358).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 18) Subsp. glaucescens (Jord.) Ball "A weed of disturbed ground". Vouchers cited: G. Uhe 1263 (K), P.S. Green 1629 (A, K), A.C. Beauglehole 5665 (MEL)
Chile (offshore islands) Rapa Nui (Easter) Island	Rapa Nui (Easter) Island (Isla de Pasqua)	introduced invasive	Meyer, Jean-Yves (2008) (p. 29)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Cuevas, Jaime G./Marticorena, Alicia/Cavieres, Lohengrin A. (2004) (p. 537) Voucher cited: CONC 158045, JF 307
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 558)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 19)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Adventice
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 358) Voucher cited: Herbst & Ishikawa 5610 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 358)
Japan (offshore islands) Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	introduced	Kato, Hidetoshi (2007)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	invasive	Henty, E. E./Pritchard, G. H. (1975) (p. 79)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island	introduced invasive	Yuncker, T. G. (1959) (p. 270) Cited: Forster.
Tonga Vava‘u Group	Vava‘u Island	introduced invasive	Yuncker, T. G. (1959) (p. 270) Cited: Barclay, Crosby.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	introduced invasive	Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive	Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 287) As Sonchus oleraceus L. In wasteland.
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 344)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	introduced invasive	Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 190)
South Korea South Korea	South Korea (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	introduced invasive	Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 343) "Gardens, arable land, waste land, roadsides, coastal sand and talus, pasture, damaged forest, lake shores".
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	introduced invasive	Ching-I Peng, ed. (2011) "In waste places at mid elevations".
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 796)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 800)

Control: 

Biological: "The leaf-gall fly (Cystiphora sonchi) of Europe and the former Soviet Union offer hope of supressing S. asper and S. arvensis in Canada. Females lay eggs on the undersides of leaves, forming up to 270 galls/plant and this insect was initially released in Canada in 1981" (Peschken, 1982, cited in Holm et al., 1997; p. 800).

Additional information:
Additional online information about Sonchus asper is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Sonchus asper as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Sonchus asper may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Ching-I Peng, ed. 2011. Digital flora of Taiwan (online resource).

Cuevas, Jaime G./Marticorena, Alicia/Cavieres, Lohengrin A. 2004. New additions to the introduced flora of the Juan Fernández Islands: origin, distribution, life history traits, and potential of invasion. Revista Chilene de Histora Natural 77:523-538.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Fosberg, F. R. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

Henty, E. E./Pritchard, G. H. 1975. Weeds of New Guinea and their control. 2nd edition. Department of Forests, Division of Botany, Botany Bull. No. 7. Lae, Papua New Guinea. 180 pp.

Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James. 1997. World weeds: natural histories and distribution. John Wiley & Sons. 1129 pp.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Kato, Hidetoshi. 2007. Herbarium records of Makino Herbarium, Tokyo Metropolitan University. Personal communication.

Meyer, Jean-Yves. 2008. Rapport de mission d'expertise a Rapa Nui du 02 au 11 Juin 2008: Plan d'action strategique pour lutter contre les plantes introduites envahissantes sur Rapa Nui (Île de pâques) [Strategic action plan to control invasive alien plants on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) [unpublished report]. Délégation à la Recherche, Ministère de l'Education, l'Enseignement supérieur et la Recherche, B.P. 20981 Papeete, Tahiti, Polynésie française. 62 pp. .

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Yuncker, T. G. 1959. Plants of Tonga. Bishop Museum Bull. 220. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 343 pp.