Any idea what this is? I grew this from NARGS seedex seed in 2012 as Saussurea nepalensis... which it clearly is not. The seedlings already looked "off" in the early days, compared to those grown by others here (and also by myself on a previous occasion). This year, I was bemused to see it send up an upright stem that has now topped out at ~1m (39"). Until these yellow flowers started opening, I could have perhaps continued to think it might be some sort of not-rock-garden-material Saussurea but my credulity is all used up now, LOL!
So, before I yank the last one out... it would be nice to put a name to it. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
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Thanks for looking, Mark. I
Thanks for looking, Mark. I've added some more photos of the plant in seeding stages. It has white sap. The leaves are rough, though the plant has no prickles anywhere on it. Seems to be tap-rooted so far.
I don't think it is a Sonchus
I don't think it is a Sonchus but more like a Picris. But as Mark says, the Asteraceae is huge!
Did you ever find any other
Did you ever find any other ideas?
I don't know Picris, but it does also remind me of (though not look like the' local' species).. flowers quite Chicory like..
That reminds me of this impressive site some of you may have seen:
http://www.plantphoto.cn/species?species=7830
I ran across it looking at Saussurea spp; I have not bothered trying to translate much, but just searched around it by name, and scrolled through massive numbers of Asteraceae pics.. probably should have posted this link in a broader topic...
Reminds me of a Sonchus species. But there are so many genera in Compositae, it could any number of things.