Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lactuca biennis
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Tall Blue Lettuce at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca biennis
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Lactuca biennis
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-07-006:
Lactuca biennis FAMILY Asteraceae_
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Mulgedium spicatum var. integrifolium
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Mulgedium spicatum var. spicatum
COMMON NAME:
Tall Blue Lettuce, Blue Wood Lettuce
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_lasp4_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm200717_6598
July Jackson County NC
Nantahala National Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm200717_6600
July Jackson County NC
Nantahala National Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm200717_6600b
July Jackson County NC
Nantahala National Forest
Stem usually green and leafy. Leaf bases clasping to slightly auriculate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Bruce A. Sorrie bas_lactuca_biennis1
August Moore County NC
Flowers typically blue, but yellow in one form. Panicle branches short and ascending, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Penny Longhurst pen_20220819_113952
August NC
Mountains to Sea Trail
Leaves on winged petioles, 4-12" long, with several wide, coarsely toothed, pointy-tipped lobes, per Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019).
)
Penny Longhurst pen_20220819_114612
August NC
Mountains to Sea Trail
Panicle branches short and ascending (vs. those of L. floridana long and spreading), per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lactuca biennis
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca biennis
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Lactuca biennis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-07-006:
Lactuca biennis
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Mulgedium spicatum var. integrifolium
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Mulgedium spicatum var. spicatum
1892
Forb
Biennial
Habitat: Pastures, roadsides, forest edges, thickets, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in NC (rare elsewhere in GA & SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: Blue or yellow
Disc: Absent
Inferior ovary
Ray flowers bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Brown
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p384
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p441
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p174
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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