Sonchus asper

Sonchus asper
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Tribe:	Cichorieae
Genus:	Sonchus
Species:	S. asper
Binomial name
Sonchus asper (L.) Hill 1769
Synonyms
Synonymy Sonchus oleraceus var. asper L. 1753 Sonchus aemulus Merino Sonchus australis Hort. ex Colla Sonchus borderi Gand. Sonchus carolinianus Walter Sonchus crocifolius Hort. ex Sch.Bip. Sonchus cuspidatus Blume Sonchus decipiens (De Not.) Zenari Sonchus eryngiifolius Sosn. Sonchus eryngioides DC. Sonchus fallax Wallr. Sonchus ferox Wall. Sonchus glaber Thunb. Sonchus infestus Poepp. ex DC. Sonchus oleraceus Wall. 1831 not L. 1753 Sonchus spinosus Lam. Sonchus spinulosus Bigel. Sonchus sulphureus Boiss. Sonchus tibesticus Quézel Sonchus umbellatus E.Mey. ex DC. Sonchus viridis Zenari Sonchus eryngiifolius Sosn. ex Grossh. Sonchus giganteus Shuttlew. ex Rouy Sonchus glaucescens Jord. Sonchus graecus Reut. ex E.Weiss Sonchus kralikii Rouy Sonchus nymanii Tineo & Guss.

Spiny sow thistle (S. asper) is a very weedy dandelion-like plant, but it can actually be prepared into delicious food.

The trick, as usual, is to find plants that are far from their final size, so they are still rapidly growing. At this stage the spines all over the leaf margins will be soft and not hurt too much (but you should still wear gloves when pulling the plants out).

The crown or heart (top of the root and center of the basal rosette) is the best part. It can be cleaned, cut it half and fried at a low heat and becomes a delicious morsel similar to an artichoke heart, just more bitter. The leaves are also fine to eat as a cooked green - the spines soften right up. A mildly bitter green with succulent hollow stems too.

Acknowledgements

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Sonchus asper, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.