''Lactuca saligna'' is a species of
wild lettuce known by the common name willowleaf lettuce, and least lettuce. It is native to Eurasia but it grows in many other places as an
introduced species, including much of North America.
It can be found rarely in south-east
England on dry banks near the sea and estuaries.
Description
''Lactuca saligna'' is an
annual herb growing from a
taproot to heights of , and occasionally taller. It is much slenderer than great lettuce ''
Lactuca virosa'' and prickly lettuce ''
Lactuca serriola
''Lactuca serriola'', also called prickly lettuce, milk thistle (not to be confused with ''Silybum marianum'', also called milk thistle), compass plant, and scarole, is an annual or biennial plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asterac ...
.'' The spindly, mainly erect stem has bristles on its lower portion. The leaves are very long and narrow, up to long but rarely than wide, usually with no lobes and no teeth. The top part of the stem is occupied by a narrow
inflorescence. The branches may be pressed against the main stem, or they may branch outward. The
flower head is up to about wide when open, with rectangular pale yellow ray florets with toothed tips. There are no disc florets. The fruit is a spiny-ribbed dark brown
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
(or
cypsela) almost long with a long white
pappus.
Flora of North America, ''Lactuca saligna'' Linnaeus, 1753.
/ref>
''Lactuca saligna'' flowers from July to August in Britain.
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment, University of CaliforniaCalphotos Photo gallery, University of CaliforniaPhoto of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Oklahoma in 1989
saligna
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Flora of Europe
{{Cichorieae-stub