Wild Lettuce, Canada Lettuce, Lactuca canadensis L. Native Minnesota Wildflowers, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

(Canada Lettuce). Wild Lettuce grows as a tall, erect annual or biennial, reaching up to 8 feet high. It grows from a deep taproot. Stems are leafy, smooth, light green or reddish green, sometimes have purple streaks, and contain a milky juice and are unbranched until the inflorescence. Leaves vary considerably, from entire to toothed, to pinnately divided and have a narrow unstalked base or a clasping base. Larger leaves tend to have deep pinnate lobes, smaller leaves maybe none. The leaf edges are not spiny, teeth are widely spaced and the underside of the midrib vein will have fine short hair. The flowers, resembling dandelions, are small (3/8") with 13 - 32 yellowish rays (some references only say 12 to 25), flower heads are longer than wide. Flowers appear in a loosely branched panicle that is long and cone shaped and contains many flower heads. It is late flowering and the inflorescence will have buds, flowers and seed heads at the same time. Seeds are a flat dry achene, with one noticeable line on the side and are transported by the wind via a tuft of white hair.

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Wild Lettuce	Lactuca canadensis L.	Aster (Asteraceae)	Upland	Late Summer to early Autumn
Other names and notes	(Canada Lettuce). Wild Lettuce grows as a tall, erect annual or biennial, reaching up to 8 feet high. It grows from a deep taproot. Stems are leafy, smooth, light green or reddish green, sometimes have purple streaks, and contain a milky juice and are unbranched until the inflorescence. Leaves vary considerably, from entire to toothed, to pinnately divided and have a narrow unstalked base or a clasping base. Larger leaves tend to have deep pinnate lobes, smaller leaves maybe none. The leaf edges are not spiny, teeth are widely spaced and the underside of the midrib vein will have fine short hair. The flowers, resembling dandelions, are small (3/8") with 13 - 32 yellowish rays (some references only say 12 to 25), flower heads are longer than wide. Flowers appear in a loosely branched panicle that is long and cone shaped and contains many flower heads. It is late flowering and the inflorescence will have buds, flowers and seed heads at the same time. Seeds are a flat dry achene, with one noticeable line on the side and are transported by the wind via a tuft of white hair.