"mleblanca" wrote in message
On Apr 24, 7:36 pm, wrote:
On Fri, 24 Apr 2009, Charlie wrote:
On Sat, 25 Apr 2009, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given
wrote:

Thistles are actually wonderful plants as they are 'deep miners'. What
I
mean by that is that they send their roots down waaaay deep and bring
minerals up into the top soil.

This is a point too often not made and too often forgotten.

Thistles are good additions to the compost pile, because of this deep
mining, provided they are nicked out before seeding.

Thistles smell good too, but I still think it's wild lettuce. I
suppose one way to tell is if the OP screams when they step on it.

I agree that it is a Lactuca, or maybe a Sonchus, sow thistle.
The leaves are immature and its difficult to tell the difference at
this stage.
I don't think the leaves are dentate or prickly enough to be a true
thistle (Circium)

It's certainly not a Lactuca and I doubt that it's a sow thistle.

It one of the other thistles. It's identical to the thisles I get here each
year in bucket loads. I live on a farm that had a major thistle and other
weed problem when we arrived here nearly 20 years ago. I get these thistle
seedlings emerging all over the garden every year. And it certainly isn't a
Lactuca as I also have the honour of those coming up each year.

As to which variety of thistle it is....... can't tell you that.