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

Mossman mahogany (Goniocheton arborescens)

Mossman mahogany ( Goniocheton arborescens ) is a species of plant in the Meliaceae, a small to large tree, up to 20-30 meters tall, flowering and fruiting when only 1 meter high, the trunk has a diameter of up to 45 cm, the bark is gray-brown, smooth or with light cracks. The leaves are opposite, 5 pairs or 10 pieces and petioles 0.5-1 cm long. The leaves are up to 18 cm long, up to 9 cm wide, a main vein in the middle with many small pinnate veins, a pointed tip, dark green upper side, lighter and glabrous underside. The inflorescence is an axillary thyrse measuring up to 8 cm covered with small yellow-brown hairs. Flowers about 10 mm long, creamy green to white, usually 5 petals 10 mm long and 2.2 mm wide. Stamen tubes arise from the base of the petals, 10 anthers 1 mm long at the distal end. The capsule fruit is round and slightly flat, up to 3 cm in diameter, bald, bright red and contains 5 seeds. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida...

Gunung Sewu Geopark

Gunung Sewu Geopark or Gunung Sewu UNESCO Global Geopark or Pegunungan Sewu (Thousand mountains) are elongated mountains in Kulonprogo Regency, Bantul Regency and Gunung Kidul Regency in Yogyakarta Province, Wonogiri Regency in Central Java Province, to Tulungagung Regency in East Java Province on Java Island, Indonesia. The uniqueness of the ecosystem encourages the International Union of Speleology to propose the Sewu Mountains Karst Area into one of the world's natural heritages in 1993. On September 19 2015, UNESCO announced Gunung Sewu as the Global Geopark Network. Sewu Mountain is rich in biodiversity, archeology, history and cultural aspects. The Pacitan rock culture represents Paleolithic to Neolithic artifacts in Southeast Asia. About 1,802 square kilometers of the area contain traces of prehistoric settlements. Some prehistoric people lived in caves, while others lived in open spaces. Characteristics Gunung Sewu is a classic tropical karst landscape and is domin...

Barong Temple

Candi Barong or Barong Temple is a Hindu site in on the Baturagung hills in the Kewu Plain in Candisari Village, Bokoharjo Sub-district, Prambanan District, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia where decoration in the temple niches looks like a 'Barong' face. This temple is also called Sari Suragedug Temple as mentioned in the Ratu Baka (Queen Baka) Inscriptions (856 AD) and Pereng Inscriptions (863 AD). The Queen Baka inscription tells of a king named Sri Kumbaja or Sri Kalasodbhava building three 'lingga' is Krttiwasalingga with Dewi Sri, Triyarbakalingga with Dewi Suralaksmi and Haralingga with Dewi Mahalaksmi. The Pereng inscription said in 784 Saka (860 AD) that Rakai Walaing Pu Kumbhayoni conferred rice fields and two hills at Tamwahurang for the maintenance of the Syiwa sacred building called Bhadraloka. The experts argue that Sri Kumbaja or Sri Kalasodbhava is Pu Kumbhayani and the Shiva building in question is the Barong Temple. Unlike the oth...