subsp. asper: Em campos de cultivo, pousios, baldios urbanos, por vezes em fendas de arribas litorais. Em solos nitrofilizados. Planta arvense e ruderal.

• Chloroplast DNA phylogeny of the woody Sonchus alliance (Asteraceae: Sonchinae) in the Macaronesian islands
  C. Lee et al. (2005). American Journal of Botany 92(12): 2072–2085
• A common origin for woody Sonchus and five related genera in the Macaronesian islands: molecular evidence for extensive radiation.
  S. C. Kim et al. (1996). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 93(15): 7743–7748.