About half of that is noncrop areas, primarily wet, marsh sites, Wrage said. Stems are smooth. Leaves are dandelion shaped, with spine-tipped edges. But no spines are found on the midrib. It has a creeping root system.
All parts have milky, white juice.
Wrage said weed watchers need to check for which kind of sowthistle they have. Scattered plants of an annual called spiny sowthistle seems to be shaping up through the middle part of the state, mostly in crop fields, Wrage said. It looks the same but has only a tap root. The leaves have coarse, greenish spines along the margin. As an annual, it's not as difficult to treat.