OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

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



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca serriola   FAMILY Asteraceae_

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)

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.

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_lase_005_lvd

        

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970    swus_page_427

        

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

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).

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

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).

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

Gill Newberry    gn06_l_serriola_midribsp

June        

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

Gill Newberry    gn06_l_serriola_sap

June        

Leaves sagittate-clasping and oblong or oblanceolate, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

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).

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

Gill Newberry    gn06_lactuca_serriola

June        

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm0506f_18

June    Greenville County    SC

Parking lot

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

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).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE involucral bracts of Wild Lettuce

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly 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).

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

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).

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm060622_001

June    Greenville County    SC

Parking lot

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm140623_229

June    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm140623_233

June    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm140623_241

June    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_lactuca_serriola_3

July        

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

Alan S. Weakley    asw_10232214967692948

August        

image of Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce

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 north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
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

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

789

Forb
Annual/Biennial

Habitat: Roadsides, disturbed ground, pastures, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: Europe

Common (rare in GA Coastal Plain)

map
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
Inferior ovary
Ray flowers bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Brown
Achene

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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