Very common, tastes just like lettuce and can be found throughout the year unless there is a really harsh Winter.
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Common Sow Thistle
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Common Sow Thistle
| Hedgerow Type | |
| Common Names | Smooth Sow Thistle, Hare’s Thistle, Annual Sow Thistle |
| Scientific Name | Sonchus oleraceus |
| Season Start | Jan |
| Season End | Dec |
Please note that each and every hedgerow item you come across may vary in appearance to these photos.
Leaves
Initially growing in a basal rosette and toothed until the flower stem appears, the leaves become less toothed the higher up the stem they are. Delicate and rather Dandelion like with a white sap when cut.
Flowers
Yellow and like small Dandelion flowers but many can grow from one stem, unlike Dandelions.
Seeds
Like a Dandelion ‘clock’ but with finer hairs rather than ‘parashoots’.
Roots
A rather thin and woody tap root but they can still be roasted and eaten.
Habitat
Anywhere there is a bit of bare soil.
Possible Confusion
Can look like a few members of the ‘Dandelion’ family, especially Prickly Sow Thistle, pictured, but this has sharp spines on the edges of the leaves.
Taste
The leaves have a lettuce like taste only not as bitter.
Frequency
Common.
Collecting
This plant will often grow around trees and fence posts and along edges so are likely to have been visited by dogs, therefore caution should be taken as to where this plant is collected from.
