Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Lactuca floridana
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
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_
INCLUDING
PLANTS National Database
Lactuca floridana var. villosa
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-07-007:
Lactuca floridana
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
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.
)
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.
)
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.
)
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.
)
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.
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.
)
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.
)
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 (11/30/12):
Lactuca floridana
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca floridana var. floridana
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
INCLUDING
PLANTS National Database
Lactuca floridana var. villosa
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-07-007:
Lactuca floridana
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
788
Forb
Annual/Biennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common (rare in GA Coastal Plain)
Look for it in mesic & dry-mesic forests, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
...Moist
...Variable
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: Blue/Violet
Disc: Absent
Ray flowers bisexual
Inferior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p441
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p247
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p311
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p362
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p174