medicinal herbs
Prickly Sow Thistle
Sonchus asper

• Medicinal herbs
• Natural herbs
• Latin names
• Common names

Herb: Prickly Sow Thistle

Latin name: Sonchus asper

Family: Compositae

Medicinal use of Prickly Sow Thistle:

The plant is pounded and applied as a poultice to wounds and boils.

Description of the plant:

Habitat of the herb:

Cultivated soil and waste places.

Edible parts of Prickly Sow Thistle:

Tender young leaves and stem tops - raw or cooked. They can be added to salads or used like spinach. The young leaves have a mild agreeable flavour. The stems should be bruised and the bitter-tasting milky juice washed out before eating or cooking them. The stems have been peeled and eaten raw like celery.

Propagation of the herb:

Seed - sow spring or late summer in situ.

Cultivation of Prickly Sow Thistle:

Cultivated soil and waste places.

Known hazards of Sonchus asper:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.