Sonchus wightianus DC
Family
Compositae
Synonyms
Sonchus arvensis L.
Vernacular Names
| Indonesia | Tempuyung (Javanese), lempung (Sundanese), jombang. |
| Philippines | Lampaka (Ilocano), lunglung an manema (Ifugao), pisay a otan (Marinduque). |
| Vietnam | Nh[ux] c[us]c d[oof]ng. |
Geographical Distributions
Sonchus wightianus is of Asian origin and distributed from Afghanistan through South Asia and Indo-China to Taiwan. It occurs in Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia (Java).
Description
This species is a perennial, branched herb, up to 140 cm tall, always with a taproot and sometimes rhizomatic as well. The 5-30 cm x 1-6 cm leaves are rosette and cauline. They are entire to pinnatipartite with more or less triangular lobes and with dentate to spiny margin.
The upper leaves are short, lance-shaped to narrowly triangular. There are 180-300 flowers per head. The involucral bracts are about 40 and densely glandular hairy. The petal tube is 7-8 mm, and with 5-6 mm long ligule.
The fruit is wrinkled, 3.5-4.25 mm x 1 mm, with 1 major and 4 minor ribs on each side. The pappus is about 8 mm long and subpersistent.
Ecology / Cultivation
Sonchus wightianus occurs in humid places such as dikes of paddy fields and irrigation canals up to 3200 m altitude. This species usually flowers and fruits year-round.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No.8: Vegetables.
