Sonchus asper (PROTA)

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Introduction

List of species

General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Vegetable
Carbohydrate / starch
Essential oil / exudate
Medicinal
Forage / feed
Food security

Sonchus asper (L.) Hill

Protologue: Herb. brit. 1: 47 (1769).

Family: Asteraceae (Compositae)

Chromosome number: 2n = 18

Synonyms

Sonchus oleraceus L. var. asper L. (1753).

Vernacular names

Prickly sow thistle, rough sow thistle, spiny sowthistle (En). Laiteron épineux, laiteron rude, laiteron piquant, lastron piquant (Fr). Serralha áspera, serralha preta, serralha espinhosa (Po).

Origin and geographic distribution

Sonchus asper is widespread in Africa (including Madagascar), Asia and Europe. In southern Africa it is widespread but infrequent. It has been introduced in the Americas and is now widespread there too.

Uses

The leaves are eaten as a cooked vegetable, or occasionally raw in salads. Sonchus asper and Sonchus oleraceus L. are used in the same way and are often mixed as they are difficult to distinguish. In the Mediterranean region and South-East Asia use of Sonchus asper as a vegetable is widespread, in Africa its use as a vegetable is reported from Madagascar, but it is probably used elsewhere too. The latex has been used to treat warts.

Properties

The leaves of Sonchus asper taste quite bitter and contain per 100 g edible portion: water 86 g, energy 111 kJ (27 kcal), protein 3.3 g, carbohydrate 2.0 g, fibre 3.6 g, Ca 99 mg, Mg 29 mg, P 49 mg, Fe 3.0 mg, Zn 0.9 mg, carotene 8 mg, ascorbic acid 63 mg (Guil-Guerrero, J.L., Giménez-Giménez, A., Rodríguez-García, I. & Torija-Isasa, M.E., 1998).

Sesquiterpene lactones, especially of the eudesmanolide type, have been isolated from both roots and aerial parts; several of these are known to be effective against Plasmodium falciparum, fungi and inflammations.

Botany

Annual or sometimes biennial herb up to 2 m tall; stem ridged, simple or branched. Leaves alternate, simple; blade oblanceolate, 4–30 cm × 1–9 cm, pinnately lobed with wide triangular lobes to toothed, base amplexicaul with rounded auricles, but basal leaves attenuate at base, apex acute; distal leaves smaller and less lobed. Inflorescence a stalked head, many arranged together in a lax, leafy corymb; involucre 12–14 mm long. Flowers bisexual, ligulate, yellow; corolla tube 6 mm long, ligule 4–5 mm long; stamens 5, anthers united into a tube around the style; ovary inferior, 1-celled, style 2-branched. Fruit a strongly flattened, ribbed, smooth achene up to 3.5 mm long, with white pappus 6–9 mm long. Seedling with epigeal germination; hypocotyl 0.5–1.5 cm long; cotyledons leafy, oblong-elliptical.

Sonchus comprises about 60 species, out of which 17 have been recorded in tropical Africa.

Ecology

Sonchus asper is a weed of cultivated fields, and is also found in grassland, along lakeshores and on mud, at 750–2550 m altitude.

Management

Sonchus asper, like Sonchus oleraceus, may be a host of insect pests and viral diseases that may affect crops, notably crops belonging to the Solanaceae and Asteraceae families. Harmful viruses of tomato and lettuce have been found in Sonchus asper in temperate regions, as well as a thrips species. Although Sonchus asper is a weed, it is generally not considered noxious in agriculture and horticulture.

Genetic resources

As Sonchus asper is widespread no genetic erosion is envisaged, even though it is mostly not very abundant throughout its range.

Prospects

Although possibly underutilized as a vegetable, promotion of Sonchus asper is not recommended because of its weedy nature.

Major references

• Beentje, H.J., 2000. Compositae (part 1). In: Beentje, H.J. (Editor). Flora of Tropical East Africa. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands. pp. 1–313.

• Burkill, H.M., 1985. The useful plants of West Tropical Africa. 2nd Edition. Volume 1, Families A–D. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 960 pp.

• Decary, R., 1946. Plantes et animaux utiles de Madagascar. Annales du Musée Colonial de Marseille, 54e année, 6e série, 4e volume, 1er et dernier fascicule. 234 pp.

• Guil-Guerrero, J.L., Giménez-Giménez, A., Rodríguez-García, I. & Torija-Isasa, M.E., 1998. Nutritional composition of Sonchus species (S. asper L., S. oleraceus L. and S. tenerrimus L.). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 76: 628–632.

Other references

• Groves, R.L., Walgenbach, J.F., Moyer, J.W. & Kennedy, G.G., 2001. Overwintering of Frankliniella fusca (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on winter annual weeds infected with tomato spotted wilt virus and patterns of virus movement between susceptible weed hosts. Phytopathology 91: 891–899.

• Helal, A.M., Nakamura, N., El-Askary, H. & Hattori, M., 2000. Sesquiterpene lactone glucosides from Sonchus asper. Phytochemistry 53: 473–477.

• Hidajat, E.B., 1993. Sonchus L. In: Siemonsma, J.S. & Kasem Piluek (Editors). Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 8. Vegetables. Pudoc Scientific Publishers, Wageningen, Netherlands. pp. 260–262.

• Pope, G.V., 1992. Compositae. In: Pope, G.V. (Editor). Flora Zambesiaca. Volume 6, part 1. Flora Zambesiaca Managing Committee, London, United Kingdom. 264 pp.

• Wilken, D. & Hannah, L., 1998. Sonchus asper (L.) Hill (Asteraceae): prickly sow thistle, spiny milk thistle. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Factsheets. Colorado Plateau Field Station, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. [Internet] http://usgssrv1.usgs.nau.edu/swepic/factsheets/Sonchus_oleraceus.pdf. October 2003.

Author(s)

• C.H. Bosch

PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands

Correct citation of this article

Bosch, C.H., 2004. Sonchus asper (L.) Hill. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>.

Accessed 4 April 2025.

• See the Prota4U database.