Lactuca serriola – Prickly Lettuce

Lactuca serriola - Prickly Lettuce, China Lettuce, Wild Lettuce (flower)

Lactuca serriola - Prickly Lettuce, China Lettuce, Wild Lettuce (leaf)

Lactuca serriola - Prickly Lettuce, China Lettuce, Wild Lettuce

Lactuca serriola - Prickly Lettuce, China Lettuce, Wild Lettuce (young leaf)

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Lactuca serriola

Synonym: Lactuca scariola

Common Names: Prickly Lettuce, China Lettuce, Wild Lettuce

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual, Biennial

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Introduced. This naturalized weed is native to Europe.

Habitat: Desert, Upland, Mountain, Riparian

Flower Color: Pale yellow rays

Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall

Height: To 5 feet (1.5 m) tall

Description: The flower heads are at the tips of the branched stems. The individual flower heads are 1/2 inch (13 mm) wide and have no disk flowers, only square-tipped, pleated, toothed rays. The leaves clasp the stems, decrease in size up the stems, are toothed to coarsely lobed, and have distinctive spines along the lower side of the whitish midrib. There are also spines along the edges of the larger leaves. The stems are upright, branched, and spiny. Broken leaves and stems will ooze milky white sap.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae – Aster family
Genus: Lactuca L. – lettuce
Species: Lactuca serriola L. – prickly lettuce

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map