The tutor continues a survey of the wild plants in the yard.

I’ve been looking for other plants to identify. There is one in some gravel; I’d say I’ve pulled it up many times. Yet, it persists. This time I’ve decided to write a post about it.

The spines at points on the leaves suggest it’s a thistle. Thistles, like so many other “wild” plants around here, belong to the Aster family. Its yellow ray flowers suggest it’s a sow thistle – but which one?

The guide reports that the common sow thistle has leaves with sharp-pointed, clasping flanges, which means that, at the stem, the leaf reaches around as it it’s holding on with pointed arms. This plants has those. Furthermore, its achenes (the achene is the stem below the flower that remains after the flower passes) seem to be cross-wrinkled, as if they’re wrapped up like Halloween candies. Based on the flanges and the cross-wrinkling, the plant is apparently a common sow-thistle.

I’ve never thought to look at flanges of leaves before; it’s interesting that the features of a plant that help identify it are ones a person might not notice most of the time.

HTH:)

Source:

Pojar, Jim and Andy MacKinnon. Plants of Coastal British Columbia. Vancouver:
    BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing, 1994.

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.