Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lactuca serriola
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Read more about Prickly Lettuce at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca serriola
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Lactuca serriola
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-07-001:
Lactuca scariola FAMILY Asteraceae_
INCLUDING Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Lactuca serriola var. integrata
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lactuca scariola
INCLUDING (MISAPPLIED) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lactuca virosa
COMMON NAME:
Prickly Lettuce
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_lase_005_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm060427_001
April Greenville County SC
Parking lot
Midrib usually prominently spiny beneath, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm060427_004
April Greenville County SC
Parking lot
Leaves or lobes usually conspicuously spinulose, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Gill Newberry gn06_l_serriola_midribsp
June
)
Gill Newberry gn06_l_serriola_sap
June
Leaves sagittate-clasping and oblong or oblanceolate, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Gill Newberry gn06_l_serriola_spines
June
Mostly smooth-stemmed with copious fine prickles on leaf margins and midrib, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Gill Newberry gn06_lactuca_serriola
June
)
JK Marlow jkm0506f_18
June Greenville County SC
Parking lot
)
JK Marlow jkm0506f_24
June Greenville County SC
Parking lot
Involucres 10-15mm long, 3-5mm broad. Bracts imbricate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
involucral bracts of Wild Lettuce
)
JK Marlow jkm0506f_27
June Greenville County SC
Parking lot
Heads are ligulate (having only ray flowers), small, and yellow-flowered, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm060616_008
June Greenville County SC
Parking lot
Nutlets brown, oblanceolate, 5-ribbed on each face; pappus white, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm060622_001
June Greenville County SC
Parking lot
)
JK Marlow jkm140623_229
June Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm140623_233
June Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm140623_241
June Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_lactuca_serriola_3
July
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_lactuca_serriola_5b
August
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lactuca serriola
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca serriola
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Lactuca serriola
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-07-001:
Lactuca scariola
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
INCLUDING
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Lactuca serriola var. integrata
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lactuca scariola
INCLUDING (MISAPPLIED)
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lactuca virosa
789
Forb
Annual/Biennial
Habitat: Roadsides, disturbed ground, pastures, per Weakley's Flora
Non-native: Europe
Common (rare in GA Coastal Plain)
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Leaves prickly ("spinulose-dentate"), midrib usually prominently spiny below
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: Yellow
Disc: Absent
Ray flowers bisexual
Inferior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Brown
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Invasive Plants, Guide to Identification, Impacts and Control (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2007) p309
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p370
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p286
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p134
- 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