On Fri, 29 Nov 2002 20:01:30 +0000, Alan Gould
wrote:

Most of the plants called thistles belong to a sub-group classified as
Cardueae, which also includes Cardoons, Cornflowers, Knapweeds, et alia.
Sow-thistles are an exception; they are related to Dandelions, Lettuces,
Hawkweeds et al (Lactuceae).

Thanks Stewart. The plot re. plant relationship thickens here a bit, but
all of those you mention are in the Compositae family, though in
different genera and species of that group. Some of them are also
mentioned as species or sub-species within the Asteraceae family, and
use the synonym Lactuca for differentiation. Plantfinder gives twenty
varieties of Sow-thistle, with the common Sow-thistle listed as Sonchus
oleraceus.

Phew. Managed to include a word from the subject line in the quote
above.

Anyway. I just wanted to add to these observations concerning
nomenclature that there may well be a _really_ grand re-ordering of
this when they start classifying according to DNA and individual
genes. It's already begun to happen hasn't it?

Rspct

Hussein