Skip to main content

Common sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus)

Tempuyung or common sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus) is a species of plant in Asteraceae, an annual shrub with erect stems, 10-125 cm high, hollow, five-angled, branched, dark green and sometimes with a reddish purple tinge, grows in full sun and tolerates mostly soil conditions.

S. oleraceus has leaves oblong, oblong-ovate or lyrate, base sagittate, basal auricles usually with a tooth obliquely pointing downwards, margins very acutely irregular dentate, teeth not pungent, apex acute or rarely rounded and glaucous on the lower surface.

Dlium Common sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus)


Lowermost radical, more or less narrowed into a petiole, pinnatifidpinnati-partite with irregular, acutely aciculate-dentate lobes and often with a triangular or ovate acute terminal lobe. Peduncle 1-5 cm long.

The flowers are yellow or white, sitting on stalks at the ends of branches in irregular terminal panicles with main axes and lateral branches further forked and each axis ending in a flower or bud and having or not having hair.

Involucre 8-9 mm long. Phyllaries obtuse, glabrous or with very few gland-hairs. Corolla 1 cm long, light-yellow or white and sometimes tinged with purple. Fruitachene, 2.5-4 mm by 1 mm, brown, 3-ribbed on each face, wrinkled with narrow margins and compressed and obovoid in shape. Seedslight with white parachutes of silky hairs. Pappus 5-8 mm long.

Common sowthistle grows in most soil types, fields, meadows, roadsides, parks and yards, vacant lots, construction sites and trash cans in subtropical and tropical climates with altitudes of 500-1600 meters.





Tempuyung is used as a vegetable that is cooked or eaten raw as a salad, treating various kinds of infections, diseases and other medicinal uses. Sedatives, diuretics, salmonella infections, anemia, eye problems, liver infections and as a remedy for opium addiction.

Plants contain 30-40 mg of vitamin C per 100g, 1.2% protein, 0.3% fat, 2.4% carbohydrates. The leaf dry weight analysis per 100g contains 45g carbohydrates, 28g protein, 22g ash, 5.9g fiber, 4.5g fat and overall provides 265 calories.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Cichorioideae
Tribe: Cichorieae
Subtribe: Hyoseridinae
Genus: Sonchus
Species: Sonchus oleraceus
Varieties: Sonchus oleraceus var. littoralis, Sonchus oleraceus var. oleraceus

Popular Posts

Kemadih (Fagraea ceilanica)

Kemadih ( Fagraea ceilanica ) is a species of plant in the Gentianaceae family. It grows as a climber and covers host trees. It is a perennial, multi-branched, hardwood plant with hard, brown bark and dark green young bark. F. ceilanica has thick leaves, 15 cm long and 8 cm wide. A central vein is linear, with a pointed tip and base. The upper surface is dark green and the lower surface is bright green. The petiole is 3 cm long. The flowers are fan-shaped with 5 inflorescences. The base is narrow, whitish-yellow or bright green, and 8 cm wide. Four inflorescences with brownish-white tips and one inflorescence with a green tip grow in the center. The fruit is green, 3.5 cm long, and the stalk is 2 cm long. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Gentianales Family: Gentianaceae Tribe: Potalieae Subtribe: Potaliinae Genus: Fagraea Thunb. in Kongl. Vetensk. Acad. Nya Handl. 3: 125 (1782) Species: Fagraea ceilanica Thunb. in Kong...

Giant shield bug (Pycanum alternatum)

Giant shield bug or pycanum rubens ( Pycanum alternatum ) is a species of animal in Tessaratomidae, has a large shield covering the back, shiny green-blue-brown colored and appears to have a powder or wax layer, inhabiting the leaves of plants in open forests or bushes . P. alternatum is also called a stink bug because of its ability to release pungent aromas when disturbed. These insects live solitary with a partner and usually the mother gather in a family together in nymphs. White eggs are attached under the leaves of the plant. Nymphs can be found in the same host as their parent. The nymph has a flat rectangular shape with a large vein in the middle like a flat leaf. Nymphs having striking colors are light green, orange and red. Color may represent various stages of development or gender. The initial stage has a small size and red color. It grows in a bigger size and turns orange then ends in green. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hemipter...

Plumeria rubra and Plumeria obtusa, the differences

SPECIES HEAD TO HEAD - The genus frangipani trees ( Plumeria Tourn. ex L.) has only 18 officially recorded species and two very similar species, frangipani ( Plumeria rubra L.) and white frangipani ( Plumeria obtusa L.). Both have the same habitus, flowers and fruits and are difficult to distinguish. The leaves of both species have slightly different shapes. Therefore, the leaves are very important to distinguish the two species, especially the shape of the tip. P. rubra has simple, lanceolate leaves with acute tips. P. obtusa has simple, elliptic leaves with rounded tips. By Aryo Bandoro Founder of Dlium.com . You can follow him on X: @Abandoro . Read more: Plumeria rubra Plumeria obtusa