Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lactuca canadensis
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about American Wild Lettuce at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca canadensis
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Lactuca canadensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-07-003:
Lactuca canadensis FAMILY Asteraceae_
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lactuca canadensis
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lactuca sagittifolia
COMMON NAME:
American Wild Lettuce, Canada Lettuce
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_laca_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm190410_7177
April Greenville County SC
)
Gill Newberry gn06_l_c_with_sap
June
Orange-yellow flowers extend slightly from urn-shaped involucral cylinders, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
COMPARE
involucral bracts of Wild Lettuce
)
Gill Newberry gn06_lactuca_c_fl
June
Tends to have all inflorescence branches ascending, flowers close together and often facing upward, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
)
JK Marlow jkm140611_700
June Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm190617_9242
June Greenville County SC
Leaves on proximal 1/2-3/4 of each stem, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm190617_9243
June Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm190617_9244
June Greenville County SC
Heads in ± corymbiform to paniculiform arrays, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm140724_032
July Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
A smooth sometimes glaucous plant. Leaves variable but without spiny margins, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm140724_035
July Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Leaf base attenuate to auriculate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm140724_036
July Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Midrib smooth to remotely spinulose beneath, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm140724_037
July Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm140724_042b
July Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Cypselae brown, ± flattened, elliptic, beaks ± filiform; pappi white, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm190702_9675
July Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm250705_1471
July Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm250705_1472
July Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm250723_1704
July Greenville County SC
Poinsett Bridge Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm250723_1710
July Greenville County SC
Poinsett Bridge Heritage Preserve
Midribs sometimes sparsely pilose, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm250723_1782
July Greenville County SC
Poinsett Bridge Heritage Preserve
Many pale to deep yellow flowers in each head, but involucres < 1/2" high, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lactuca canadensis
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca canadensis
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Lactuca canadensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-07-003:
Lactuca canadensis
FAMILY
Asteraceae_
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lactuca canadensis
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lactuca sagittifolia
787
Forb
Annual/Biennial
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, disturbed ground, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: Yellow
Disc: Absent
Inferior ovary
Ray flowers bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Black
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p112
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p372
- 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
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p326
- Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses (Murphy et al., 1992) p105
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