OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Lactuca floridana   FAMILY Asteraceae_   Go to FSUS key



INCLUDING PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca floridana var. floridana   FAMILY Asteraceae_

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Lactuca floridana

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

Lactuca floridana

INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Lactuca floridana var. floridana

INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Lactuca floridana var. villosa

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-07-007:

Lactuca floridana   FAMILY Asteraceae_

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Mulgedium floridanum

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Mulgedium villosum

 

COMMON NAME:
Woodland Lettuce


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm190801_0358

August    Buncombe County    NC

Blue Ridge Parkway

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm190801_0359

August    Buncombe County    NC

Blue Ridge Parkway

Most Lactuca species are highly variable in leaf lobing, per Weakley's Flora (2018).

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm190801_0460

August    Buncombe County    NC

Blue Ridge Parkway

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_lactuca_floridana

August        

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

Dan Whitten    sdw_bigbluelettuce

August    Greenville County    SC

Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve

Stem 2" thick and easily 12' tall! (for comparison the walking stick is 5'6").

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

Dan Whitten    sdw_blueflowers

August    Greenville County    SC

Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve

The pistils' 2-cleft styles indicate that they are functional, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm100903_589

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm120914_856

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Leaves dissected or unlobed; lanceolate, elliptic to triangular-ovate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm120914_859

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

The stems are sometimes reddish and the leaves are not clasping, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm120914_862

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Panicle diffuse, to 80cm long & about as broad, the branches long & spreading, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm120914_866867869

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm120914_867

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Heads cylindric or tapering inward toward apex. 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 floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm120914_879

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm120914_881

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm120914_889

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Fewer ray flowers than L. biennis (11-17 per head), per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm120914_891

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm120914_896

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Pappus white, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm120914_907

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

JK Marlow    jkm120914_909

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_lactuca_floridana_3

September        

image of Lactuca floridana, Woodland Lettuce

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_lactuca_floridana_2

October        

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Lactuca floridana   FAMILY Asteraceae_

INCLUDING PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lactuca floridana var. floridana   FAMILY Asteraceae_

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Lactuca floridana

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Lactuca floridana

INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lactuca floridana var. floridana

INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lactuca floridana var. villosa

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-07-007:
Lactuca floridana   FAMILY Asteraceae_

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Mulgedium floridanum

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Mulgedium villosum

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

788

Forb
Annual/Biennial

Habitat: Mesic and dry-mesic forests, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common (uncommon in NC Mountains & NC Coastal Plain)

map
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: Blue/Violet
Disc: Absent
Inferior ovary
Ray flowers bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene

 

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



 


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