Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Asterales Link
Family
Compositae Giseke
Genus
Sonchus L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Sonchus kirkii Hamlin, New Zealand J. Bot. 14: 279 (1976)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Sonchus oleraceus var. littoralis Kirk, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 26: 265 (1894) – as γ littoralis
  • ≡ Sonchus asper var. littoralis (Kirk) Kirk, Stud. Fl. New Zealand 362 (1899)
  • ≡ Sonchus littoralis (Kirk) Cockayne, Rep. Bot. Kapiti Isl. 21 (1907) nom. illeg., non Sonchus littoralis Rchb. 1831
  • ≡ Sonchus littoralis (Kirk) Allan, Fl. New Zealand 1, 760 (1961) nom. illeg., non Sonchus littoralis Rchb. 1831
Vernacular Name(s):
Kautara; New Zealand sow thistle; Pūhā; Pūhā tiotio; Puhapuha; Raurōroa; Shore puha; Taweke; Tiotio; Wekeweke
 Description

Biennial to perennial. Roots tap and fibrous; taproot swollen above. Stem erect, simple or branching above, finely grooved or ribbed, glabrous, (5)–15–60–(100) cm tall. Lvs thick, glaucous, dull, glabrous, lanceolate to narrowly oblong to linear-oblanceolate, (3)–8–20–(55) × (1)–3–6–(15) cm; margins dentate. Rosette and lower stem lvs tapering to base, pinnatifid to < 1/2 way to midrib; lobes broadly triangular, spreading or slightly deflexed. Upper lvs not lobed, narrowly triangular to linear or narrowly oblanceolate, with ± rounded amplexicaul auricles at base. Infl. cymose to umbellate; capitula few to many. Involucre 10–15 mm long, turbinate to cylindric; bracts imbricate, recurved at fruiting, glabrous or sometimes the outer with a row of median broad-based trichomes, occasionally densely white-tomentose at base. Receptacle glabrous. Florets 11/2× length of involucre; corolla tube slightly > ligule; ligules spreading, yellow. Achenes elliptic, brown, strongly flattened, (3)–3.5–4 × 1.3–1.8 mm, 3-ribbed on each face, winged; spaces between ribs smooth; wings and ribs smooth. Pappus fine, white, c. = involucre.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
Cockayne, L. 1907: Report on a Botanical Survey of Kapiti Island. Wellington, N.Z.
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61–96. [Relic]
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42(1): 45–76.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Declining]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Declining]
Hamlin, B.G. 1976: A New Name in Sonchus for New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 14(3): 279.
Kirk, T. 1894: Remarks on the New Zealand Sow-thistles, with Description of a New Species. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 26: 263–266.
Kirk,T. 1899: The Students' Flora of New Zealand and the Outlying Islands. Government Printer, Wellington, N.Z.