perennial sow thistle

Sonchus arvensis

Member of sow thistles (genus Sonchus)
yellow dandelion-like flowers
lettuce, chicory, dandelion, and salsify tribe (tribe Cichorieae)
thistles
sunflower family (family Asteraceae)
dicots (class Magnoliopsida)
flowering plants (subphylum Angiospermae)

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• perennial
• stem distally branched
• basal leaves 5–15 cm, entire to deeply lobed, short-petioled
• cauline leaves coarsely lobed and toothed
• proximal clasping lobes of cauline leaves curled
• peduncles and phyllaries generally sessile-glandular, rarely tomentose
• involucre 14–18 mm
• petal ± = corolla tube
• fruit ± compressed , 3–4-angled, 2-ribbed between angles
• very rare

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Chris’s observations: none

Taxon info: iNaturalist – Calflora – CalPhotos – Jepson eFlora – FNA

Bay Area species: iNaturalist – Calflora