Sonchus oleraceus Linnaeus
smooth sow-thistle
cosmopolitan
Sonchus arvensis, S. asper and S. oleraceus,three common weeds of cultiva-
tion, have doubtless not been differentiated in folk medicine, the only record
of herbal use attributable to one of them specifically being the result of a Lin-
colnshire user pointing out S. arvensis to a botanist.^71 Probably all three share
much the same properties, in particular the white juice that has given rise to
the names ‘milkweed’, ‘milkwort’ and ‘milk thistle’ in England and Ireland
alike and been widely applied to warts in both countries. In Wales, however,
where the plants’ association with pigs seems to have been particularly strong,
with even a magical tinge, they are said to have been reserved for applying to
286 Sonchus
Sonchus oleraceus,
smooth sow-thistle
(Green 1902, fig. 376)