Perennial Sow-thistle - Sonchus arvensis
Medium to tall plant with far creeping stolons, stems erect to 1.5 metres, furrowed and bristly above. Upper leaves clasping the stem with rounded basal lobes. Flowerheads golden yellow, 40 to 50 mm in lax clusters. Flower bracts with sticky, yellowish glands.
Both Rough Sow-thistle and Smooth Sow-thistle are similar, but Perennial Sow-thistle has larger, more showy and deeper yellow flowers. Smooth Sow-thistle has pointed leaf auricles and Rough Sow-thistle has prickly leaves.
Cultivated and waste ground, river and stream margins, roadsides.
July to October.
Perennial.
Very common throughout much of Britain, though scarcer in the north.
Very common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 551 of the 617 tetrads.
David Nicholls
Priory Water
13 August 2016
David Nicholls
Charnwood Lodge
01 September 2012
David Nicholls
Priory Water
13 August 2016
sticky, yellow glands Old Fosse Sapcote SP 4923 9138 (taken 4.8.2008).JPG)
Graham Calow
Sapcote
04 August 2008
David Nicholls
Watermead Country Park
06 September 2012
Ken Charity
Ketton Quarry NR
20 August 2015
 Old Fosse Sapcote SP 4923 9138 (taken 4.8.2008).JPG)
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Species profile
- Common names
- Corn Sow-Thistle, Perennial Sow-thistle
- Species group:
- Wildflowers
- Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Order:
- Asterales
- Family:
- Asteraceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 148
- First record:
- 01/01/2005 (Harry Ball)
- Last record:
- 14/10/2023 (Nicholls, David)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.
In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.
Latest images
Latest records
David Nicholls
Cossington Meadows
02 October 2014
sticky, yellowish glands
Graham Calow
Cotesbach Hall land (near car parking area)
19 June 2023
Alan Semper
Harby, Colston La
03 July 2012
Graham Calow
Cotesbach Hall land (near car parking area)
19 June 2023
David Nicholls
Evington Park
25 May 2012. Leicester Road Sapcote SP 5006 9318 (taken 27.8.2007).JPG)
Graham Calow
Sapcote
27 August 2007
Alan Semper
Harby, Colston La
03 July 2012
Alan Semper
Harby roadside
10 July 2013
Ken Charity
Ketton Quarry NR
20 August 2015
sticky, yellowish glands
Ken Charity
Ketton Quarry NR
20 August 2015
. Leicester Road Sapcote SP 5006 9318 (taken 27.8.2007).JPG)
Cystiphora sonchi
These blisters on sowthistle leaves are galls caused by the midge Cystiphora sonchi. They are most commonly found on Smooth Sow-thistle but may also be found on Prickly and Perennial Sow-thistle.
Liriomyza sonchi
The larvae of the fly Liriomyza sonchi form large upper surface blotch mines on the leaves of sow-thistle species. Secondary feeding corridors are often present. Scattered frass can be seen in the mine. Several larvae may feed together in the mine.