spidra's Sow Thistle

Often mistaken for a dandelion, this is a different genus, though of the Aster family. Its flowers look very similar to dandelion and its seeds also disperse via little “umbrellas”. However, Sonchus grows upright up to a yard. Dandelion grows along the ground (although I have a picture of a dandelion whose leaves grew a little upright because the tall grass around it wouldn’t let them rest on the ground). Like dandelion, the young leaves are edible (the older ones are, too, but grow more bitter with age). Both plants have latex inside, have tenacious taproots, etc. So it’s easy to see how they’re taken for one another. It comes in a couple sub-species, including a prickly one that is even hard to uproot due to pain.