Topic summary
Lactuca sativa
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Lettuce.
Taxonomy and etymology
Lactuca sativa is a member of the Lactuca (lettuce) genus and the Asteraceae (sunflower or aster) family. The species was first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in the second volume of his Species Plantarum. Synonyms for L. sativa include Lactuca scariolavar.sativa, L. scariolavar.integrata and L. scariolavar.integrifolia. L. scariola is itself a synonym for L. serriola, the common wild or prickly lettuce. L. sativa also has many identified taxonomic groups, subspecies and varieties, which delineate the various cultivar groups of domesticated lettuce. Lettuce is closely related to several Lactuca species from southwest Asia; the closest relationship is to L. serriola, an aggressive weed common in temperate and subtropical zones in much of the world.