#Common sowthistle

[blogbirdfeather]

Common Sowthistle - Serralha (Sonchus oleraceus)

Lisboa/Portugal (16/03/2024)

[Nikon D850; AF 105mm Micro-Nikkor F2,8 with Circular Flash Nissin  MF 18; F16; 1/250s; 400 ISO]

[falseandrealultravival]

Today's Haiku with Picture 342

How cold

Grow defiantly

It's Nogeshi

寒さなど

ものともせずや

ノゲシかな

This grass from the Asteraceae family can be used in salads like dandelions. Harunogeshi.

Common sowthistle　Sonchus oleraceus

(2022.12.25)

[santandreas]

FOTD Sth.Maroubra Green 30th December

For Cee’s FOTD challenge for December 30th There are almost 900 species of Eucalypts in Australia. Living trees, dying leaves, daisy stalks dry as dust. Notice the yellowed leaves. Common sowthistle with leaf litter. Eucalypts shed leaves continuously, 🍃 thus appearing green at all times. There are always dry dead leaves in the garden and Parks. Common sowthistle- filtered for…

[dansnaturepictures]

21/09/24-Orach, my first Clouded Yellow of the year, Long-winged Conehead on chamomile, view, Linnet, Rook and dock at Milford-on-Sea and narrow leaf blue eyed grass in the garden. I am ecstatic to see the Clouded Yellow and another striking paler one on the walk, a sensational, exquisite and well coloured species that was the last one I could add to my year list it's the second latest in a year I've first seen one or any butterfly species so I wasn't sure if I'd see one this year. I'm thrilled to have seen forty three butterfly species this year, my joint third highest ever in a challenging year for them.

Other highlights on the great walk at the beautiful Milford-on-Sea were Small White, Large White, Peacock, Common Blue, Long-winged Conehead, Buzzard, Rook, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Wheatear, Stonechat, Linnets, Swallow, Sandwich Terns including diving into the water close to shore, Black-headed Gull, beautiful sand spurrey, sea rocket, ragwort, sowthistle, thrift, creeping thistle, white campion, hogweed seed heads and an (albeit knocked over) parasol mushroom. At home there were some great sightings today with the Chiffchaff coming into the garden for the second day running and landing on a sunflower, Blue Tit, Goldfinch including young, Starling, Collared Dove, Jackdaws, Large White, Speckled Wood and cranefly including on a rose.

[najia-cooks]

苦菜 / Kucai (Chinese sowthistle stir-fry)

Common sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus) is a hardy flowering plant in the family Asteraceae (alongside, for example, daisies, sunflowers, and dandelions). It is native to Europe and West Asia, but appears throughout the Americas, East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. It is a common weed in recently disturbed soil, and sometimes pops up among and competes with cultivated crops.

Sowthistle is eaten as a bitter green in Chinese cuisine. The word "苦菜" (Mandarin Pinyin: kǔcài), from "苦" "kǔ" "bitter" + "菜" "cài" "vegetable" or "greens," is often used to refer to sowthistle—though it may also designate other bitter greens, including garlic chives.

This recipe prepares sowthistle as Chinese bitter greens are generally prepared: blanched in salted water, then fried with ginger and garlic. The sweetness and pungency of the aromatics round out the earthy bitterness of the sowthistle, making a dish that's excellent as a side with soup or rice. Here, I used it to top a fried tofu sandwich with a soy-sesame-ginger sauce.

Recipe under the cut!

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Identifying common sowthistle

Young plants grow from a rosette of waxy leaves with deep triangular lobes. Leaves growing from the stem are alternate (one leaf per node), simple (not divided into leaflets) and pinnatifid (divided, but the divisions do not go all the way to the midrib). Leaves have hairless midribs and clasp the stem at their base.

Stem is hairless and mostly unbranched, except near the apex. Stems terminate in clusters of flowers which are yellow when in bloom. Mature leaves and stems produce a white, milky latex when broken; not toxic, though quite bitter.

Young leaves, top two; mature plants, last three

If the leaf margins are covered in sharp spikes, you may be looking at spiny sowthistle. This plant is also edible, though it may not be worth the trouble to remove the spines to eat the mature leaves. Younger leaves, which generally form towards the center of the rosette, have softer spines and are edible without processing.

Young prickly sowthistle, left; mature prickly sowthistle, right

Common sowthistle may also be confused with common groundsel. Groundsel exudes a clear, not a milky, sap when broken, and its leaves are more deeply lobed. It is more densely branched and its leaves are waxier. Common groundsel is toxic and should not be consumed in large quantities.

Common groundsel

Ingredients:

Large bunch common sowthistle leaves (Sonchus oleraceus), preferably young

1/2-inch chunk (5g), scrubbed and thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

Neutral oil, to fry

Toasted sesame oil, to top

Salt, to taste

Instructions:

1. Wash leaves thoroughly in a bowl filled with water. Pull leaves out to allow dirt to sink to the bottom. Repeat.

2. Boil leaves in salted water for about 10 minutes, until tender.

3. If desired, soak in cool water for 1-3 hours to remove some of the leaves' bitterness.

4. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan on medium-high. Fry ginger and garlic for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add leaves and fry a minute or two.

5. Remove from heat and stir in sesame oil. Taste and adjust salt. Add a dash of mirin or rice vinegar to balance the bitterness, if desired.

[happypeachsludgeflower]

What type of flower (weed) do you think Feng Xin would give Mu Qing as an apology gift whenever he pissed the other man off? I'm leaning towards common sowthistle, which is a native plant in China. It's obviously a thistle, but also looks like a dandelion, and is so very obviously not a flower to be giving in a bouquet (it's a thistle), that the concept of Feng Xin finding it on the side of the road and thinking, "Yes, this flower will make Mu Qing forgive me!" and then ripping a huge stalk from the ground with chunks of mud still caked to the roots (and covered in blood now because he absolutely shredded his hands in the processes) and returning to Mu Qing with his gift much like a cat proudly showing off its kill to its master is so fucking funny and yea okay I've convinced myself. Never mind about the question. Feng Xin is giving Mu Qing sowthistles.

[twistedthistlehomestead]

I walk around our property looking at the different “weeds” growing. I’m new to learning about herbalism so I use an app to find out what a lot of things are. But I also do research to make sure the app is telling me correctly.

These are some of the plants that the app says we have here:

Thistle

Curly Dock

Carolina Geranium

Hairy Buttercup

Spiny Sowthistle

Common Vetch

Lesser Swinecress

Horse weed

Pennsylvania Everlasting

Chinese Bushclover

Groundseltree

Japanese Honeysuckle

Sticky Chickweed

Prickly Lettuce

Tiny Bluet

Corn Salad

Birdeye Speedwell

Wild Garlic

Purple Dead-nettle

Dandelion

Creeping Buttercup

Henbit Deadnettle

Roundleaf Greenbrier

Evening Primrose

Blue Mistflower

Purple False Foxglove

Broomsedge Bluestem

Wrinkledleaf Goldenrod

Pasture Thistle

Virginia Creeper

Trumpet Vine

White Heath Aster

White Clover

Large leaf Pennywort

American Pokeweed

Dogfennel

But it seems like every day there’s something new popping up.

[ainews]

A recent study has revealed a shocking discovery: the existence of repulsive pixies and a useless bee.

The research, conducted by the University of Exeter, examined a variety of plant species in the UK and discovered that the presence of pixies and a useless bee was significantly more common than previously thought.

The study found that the pixies and the useless bee were attracted to certain common plants, such as dandelions, sowthistle, and buttercups. These plants were highly attractive to the insects, and the pixies were observed to actively seek out these plants and the useless bee would hover near them.

The research team believes that the presence of these insects is likely to have an impact on plant diversity, as their presence could reduce the number of smaller plants in the environment. This could lead to a decrease in the number of other insect species in the area as well.

The team also noted that the pixies and the useless bee were rarely seen interacting with other insect species, which could indicate that they might be competing for resources.

This study is the first to confirm the presence of these insects and the researchers believe that further studies are needed to understand the effects they may have on ecosystems in the UK.

[life-around-me-yura15cbx]

Осо́т огоро́дный (лат. Sónchus oleráceus) — однолетнее травянистое растение семейства Астровые, или Сложноцветные (Asteraceae).

Молодые листья можно ис��ользовать для приготовления супов, щей, салатов. Для удаления из них горечи — вымачивают в солевом растворе 25—30 минут. Можно употреблять и корни осота — варёные они напоминают топинамбур. Народные названия растения: молочник, желтушник, зайчик, молочак, заячий салат.

Sonchus oleraceus is a species of flowering plant in the tribe Cichorieae of the family Asteraceae, native to Europe and Western Asia. It has many common names including common sowthistle, sow thistle, smooth sow thistle, annual sow thistle, hare's colwort, hare's thistle, milky tassel, milk thistle. and soft thistle

1/55A Woodlands Crescent, Browns Bay, Auckland 0630

7PPR+HHM Auckland

-36.7135250, 174.7414110

[falseandrealultravival]

Today's Haiku with Picture 460

Over the winter

Bloom happily

Harunonogeshi

冬を越え

嬉しく咲ける

ハルノゲシ

Asteraceae. edible. Common sowthistle.

(2023.03.11)

[katyazvonkovna]

Common Sowthistle

10•17•2021

[dansnaturepictures]

22nd September 2024: Views, Cattle Egrets which were fantastic to see well, hemp agrimony, oxtongue, hogweed and as well as Cattle Egret another species associated with cattle vibrant Yellow Wagtails which was a joy to see.

It was also great to see Marsh Harriers well, Buzzard, Kestrel, Wheatear, Chiffchaff, Dunnock, Robin, Linnets and Green Woodpecker enjoyed again both stars of recent days, returning Brent Geese who's sight and sound filled the harbour a huge signpost of early autumn and the exciting waterfowl filled months to come, another key winter species here Pintail, Teal, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Sandwich Tern, Common Gull, Black-tailed Godwits, Ringed Plover, Red Admiral, my first ever Vestal moth which was thrilling to see, hoverflies common stork's-bill, mercury, comfrey, sowthistle, rock samphire, nightshade and hawthorn berries and rose hips with Cetti's Warbler heard. Completing a strong weekend for sightings at home it was great to see a Grey Heron flying over the house as we left to go out with Goldfinches and Starlings good to see too.

[linghxr]

Characters That Look TOO Similar (相似到难以分辨的汉字)

I’ve seen a lot of posts floating around in the Chinese teaching/learning scene about similar characters like 己 & 已 and 未 & 末. But these posts never seem to include the characters that I have the most difficulty with! So I made my own :)

Note: Some of these characters don’t look similar if you use traditional characters, but I primarily use simplified.

怒 nù - anger / fury / flourishing / vigorous 恕 shù - to forgive This is an example of one-way confusion. I learned 恕 as part of the phrase 恕我直言, but now, whenever I see 恕 I think it’s 怒 at first. But never the other way around.

拨 bō - to push aside with the hand, foot, a stick etc / to dial / to allocate / to set aside (money) / to poke (the fire) / to pluck (a string instrument) / to turn round / classifier: group, batch  拔 bá - to pull up / to pull out / to draw out by suction / to select / to pick / to stand out (above level) / to surpass / to seize  In class once I wrote what I thought was 拔 on the board...it was 拨. I was very embarrassed. These two always trip me up! They are by far my least favorite duo on this list.

苛 kē - severe / exacting  苟 gǒu - if / supposing / careless / negligent / temporarily / surname Gou For some reason I am most embarrassed about confusing these two. I think it’s because when I look closely and carefully, they don’t seem that similar. But if I am not looking closely and carefully, they cause confusion.

茶 chá - tea / tea plant 荼 tú - thistle / common sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus) / bitter (taste) / cruel / flowering grass in profusion  I saw a chengyu with 荼 (如火如荼) and totally thought it was 茶. I was so shocked when I realized otherwise! I guess the chengyu wouldn’t make much sense with 茶...oh well.

竟 jìng - unexpectedly / actually / to go so far as to / indeed  竞 jìng - to compete / to contend / to struggle  On the bright side, since these two characters are pronounced exactly the same, at least you don’t really have to worry about that aspect. The big issue would just be writing the wrong one.

丰 fēng - abundant / plentiful / fertile / plump / great / surname Feng 韦 wéi - soft leather / surname Wei These characters are both last names, so watch out. You wouldn’t want to misread 韦礼安 as 丰礼安 or something.

暧 ài - (of daylight) dim / obscure / clandestine / dubious  暖 nuǎn - warm / to warm  These two really give me a headache. I need my glasses to tell them apart! They look a bit more distinct in traditional, but I still managed to think 暧/曖 by 孙盛希 was called 暖 for a solid month or so.

呜 wū - (onom.) for humming or whimpering  鸣 míng - to cry (of birds, animals and insects) / to make a sound / to voice (one's gratitude, grievance etc)  I don’t really have an issue with 鸟 and 乌, but for some reason 鸣 and 呜 trip me up. I might need my glasses for them too haha.

妹 mèi - younger sister  姝 shū - pretty woman  I’ve seen both these characters in names. Except I thought 姝 was 妹. I blame 张惠妹! I think for the rest of my life I’ll be paranoid about saying someone’s name incorrectly due to these two.

廷 tíng - palace courtyard 延 yán - to prolong / to extend / to delay / surname Yan I don’t actually know any words with 廷, but it can be used in names. In my experience, it’s especially common in Taiwan. But I have also seen 延 in names, so sometimes I have do a double take.

Honorable mention: 昼/晝 zhòu - daytime  画/畫 huà - to draw / picture / painting 书/書 shū - book / letter / document / to write Whenever I read something in traditional Chinese, these triplets are the bane of my existence. I’ve given up on trying to distinguish them and just guess from context instead. People use use traditional, how do you do it?

[plantanarchy]

FWIW, I saw the dandelion post and immediately said "mmm dats not dandelion" as I scrolled but plant taxonomy and their "common" names can be really dumb and confusing for laypeople (calendula is called pot marigold but isnt a marigold? 'kay...) and noticing the nuances is a skill, just like how people think Huskies and wolves look the same lmaaoo like people think goldenrod is ragweed and causing their allergies pls no it is a beautiful bb to be appreciated! tldr I am plant nerd I get it

Yeah juggling common names and botanical ames and how plants are related in general gets very confusing even for plant folks! I know I never quite know what's up half the time even as someone who has a bizarre interest specifically in weeds. Like I had seen sowthistles about and knew they were an Asteraceae weed but did not actually know the common name for them until I dug about to Id the second "dandelion" in that post (I was able to find it almost immediately just by typing "dandelion look-alikes with perfoliate leaves" aka knowing botany terms helps so much)

But I saw someone had tagged that post "who cares they're yellow blooming weeds just call them dandelions and don't ruin anyone's fun" and that makes me feel bummed out because to me, weed/general plant identification is extremely fun. Don't ruin my fun by lumping every single weed under the same exact name.

Plant blindness is a big ole issue! And it's not just blindness it's that even when folks see and care about the plant, they don't care enough about them as individuals to think they are worth learning about. They're all just yellow blooming weeds, blurred one into the next.

Which makes me sad. And I'm not sure how to combat that without risking making people feel stupid when you correct them or assume they have minimal knowledge.

[ourlittlechateau]

Look at what popped up while we were away. Not only did this common sowthistle pop up but it grow like wild it’s ruffle 4 feet tall.

#commonsowthistle #weeds #gardening #plants #containergardeing #pottedplants #garden #growyourownfood #socalgarden #vegetable #hobbygardening #growingfoodathome #homegrown #plantsmakepeoplehappy

[anreill]

Common sowthistle

Bee-muck

Sonchus oleraceus