Dudhi / Milk Thistle
Sonchus asper
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan & more
- Flowering
- October-April
How to identify Dudhi
Identify Dudhi by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Confirm leaf type: Simple.
- Confirm leaf shape: Lanceolate.
- Confirm flower colour: Yellow.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Head.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: October-April.
- In India, compare location records such as Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Sonchus asper
- Genus
- Sonchus
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Distribution
- Cosmopolitan
- Found in India
- Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal
- Flowering & fruiting
- October-April
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- SimplerecordedA single, undivided leaf blade.“The leaves are bluish-green, simple, lanceolate, with wavy and sometimes lobed margins, covered in spines on both the margins and beneath.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf shape
- LanceolaterecordedLong and narrow, tapering to a point, like a lance head.“The leaves are bluish-green, simple, lanceolate, with wavy and sometimes lobed margins, covered in spines on both the margins and beneath.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf margin
- LobedrecordedThe edge is divided into rounded or pointed sections that don't reach the midrib.“The leaves are bluish-green, simple, lanceolate, with wavy and sometimes lobed margins, covered in spines on both the margins and beneath.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Dudhi itself; the rest are typical of the Asteraceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Yellowrecorded
- Flower arrangement
- HeadrecordedA dense, tight cluster of many small stalkless flowers, packed into a rounded or flat head.“One plant will produce several flat-topped arrays of flower heads, each head containing numerous yellow ray flowers but no disc flowers.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Head
- Fruit
- Achene
Characters marked “recorded” are for Dudhi itself; the rest are typical of the Asteraceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- दूधी Dudhi, Didhi, Dodak
- Marathi
- Mahatra
About Dudhi
A member of the Asteraceae family, Milk Thistle (Sonchus asper) is a herb. In India it has been recorded in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and 9 other states. Flowering and fruiting run from October to April.
Asteraceae
Daisy/Sunflower family
Dudhi belongs to the Asteraceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Asteraceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides