Pterocypsela indica

(L.) C. Shih

AsteraceaeLeaves

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Виктория, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves

The leaves are boiled and eaten with soy sauce.

Where to Find It

It grows in temperate and tropical places. It grows on sunny hillsides and along roads. In Taiwan it grows from low to mid altitudes.

Asia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, SE Asia, Siberia, Taiwan,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A herb. It can grow each year from seed or last 2 years. The stems are 60-200 cm tall. They are simple and can branch near the top. The lower leaves on the stem are oval or sword shaped and 13-25 cm long by 2-11 cm wide. They are almost without leaf stalks. The leaves can have some divisions along the edge. The flowering group is 20-40 cm long and at the top. The flower heads are about 2 cm across. They are yellow.

Notes

There are about 11 Pterocypsela species.

Names & Synonyms

Brachyramphus sinicus Miq.Lactuca amurensis Regel & Maxim.Lactuca brevirostris Champ.Lactuca cavaleriei H. Lev.Lactuca indica var. indicaLactuca squarrosa Miq.Lactuca squarrosa (Thunb.) Maxim.Leontodon acutissimusPrenanthes longifolia Jungh.Sonchus engleri Muschl.

References (4)

Altschul, S.V.R., 1973, Drugs and Foods from Little-known Plants. Notes in Harvard University Herbaria. Harvard Univ. Press. Massachusetts. no. 5149 (As Lactuca squarrosa)
Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugduno-Batavum 2:189. 1866 (As Lactuca squarrosa)
Flora of Taiwan Vol. 4:1043
Kuo, W. H. J., (Ed.) Taiwan's Ethnobotanical Database (1900-2000), http://tk.agron.ntu.edu.tw/ethnobot/DB1.htm

What to Eat

Where to Find It

How to Identify

Notes

More from Asteraceae