Lactuca ludoviciana (Nutt.) Riddell

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Asteraceae

• Scientific Name

  Lactuca ludoviciana (Nutt.) Riddell

• Description

  Species Description - Leafy-stemmed biennial or possibly short-lived perennial, the stem glabrous, 3–15 dm; lvs prickly or coarsely hairy on the midrib and sometimes also on the main veins beneath, ± prickly-toothed on the margins and usually also pinnately lobed, mostly 7–30 × 3–20 cm; heads relatively large, with 20–56 yellow or occasionally blue or pale lilac fls; invol 15–22 mm in fr; achenes strongly flattened, blackish, with a median nerve on each face, transversely rugulose, 7–10 mm overall, the slender beak equaling or a little shorter than the body; pappus 7–10 mm; 2n=34. Prairies and other open places; w. Ind. to Man., Mont., Colo., and Tex., casually intr. eastw. July–Sept.

• Discussion

  (L. campestris, the blue-fld form)

• Common Names

  prairie-lettuce