Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Lactuca serriola
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
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
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
COMMON NAME:
Prickly Lettuce
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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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.
)
JK Marlow jkm060427_004
April Greenville County SC
Parking lot
Leaves or lobes usually conspicuously spinulose, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
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.
)
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.
)
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.
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.
)
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.
)
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 (11/30/12):
Lactuca serriola
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca serriola
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
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
789
Forb
Annual/Biennial
Non-native: Europe
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common (rare in GA Coastal Plain)
Look for it on roadsides, disturbed ground, pastures, 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.
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 p309
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide p370
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p286
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States p134
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p311
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p362
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p174