Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Lactuca floridana
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Woodland Lettuce at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca floridana var. floridana
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Lactuca floridana
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Lactuca floridana
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lactuca floridana var. floridana
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lactuca floridana var. villosa
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-07-007:
Lactuca floridana FAMILY Asteraceae_
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Mulgedium floridanum
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Mulgedium villosum
COMMON NAME:
Woodland Lettuce
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm190801_0358
August Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm190801_0359
August Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Most Lactuca species are highly variable in leaf lobing, per Weakley's Flora (2018).
)
JK Marlow jkm190801_0460
August Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_lactuca_floridana
August
)
Dan Whitten sdw_bigbluelettuce
August Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
Stem 2" thick and easily 12' tall! (for comparison the walking stick is 5'6").
)
Dan Whitten sdw_blueflowers
August Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
The pistils' 2-cleft styles indicate that they are functional, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm100903_589
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_856
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Leaves dissected or unlobed; lanceolate, elliptic to triangular-ovate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_859
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
The stems are sometimes reddish and the leaves are not clasping, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_862
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Panicle diffuse, to 80cm long & about as broad, the branches long & spreading, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_866867869
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_867
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Heads cylindric or tapering inward toward apex. Bracts imbricate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
involucral bracts of Wild Lettuce
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_879
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_881
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_889
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Fewer ray flowers than L. biennis (11-17 per head), per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_891
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_896
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Pappus white, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_907
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_909
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_lactuca_floridana_3
September
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_lactuca_floridana_2
October
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Lactuca floridana
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca floridana var. floridana
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Lactuca floridana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Lactuca floridana
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lactuca floridana var. floridana
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lactuca floridana var. villosa
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-07-007:
Lactuca floridana
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Mulgedium floridanum
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Mulgedium villosum
788
Forb
Annual/Biennial
Habitat: Mesic and dry-mesic forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in NC Mountains & NC Coastal Plain)
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/Violet
Disc: Absent
Inferior ovary
Ray flowers bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p441
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p247
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p095
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p311
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p362
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p174
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