Flower
Canada Wild Lettuce
Lactuca canadensisAlso known as Canada Lettuce, Tall Lettuce, Wild Lettuce, Florida Lettuce
Canada wild lettuce shoots up rapidly in midsummer, producing tall, wand-like stems that exude a bitter white latex when broken. Small, pale yellow flower heads open in loose branched clusters under direct sunlight, attracting solitary bees, hoverflies, and skipper butterflies. By autumn, the heads mature into dense bursts of fluffy white pappi that carry wind-borne seeds across open fields and road verges.
NativeHerbaceousSun-loving
—observations
—countries
—peak records
Not EvaluatedConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXNot Evaluated — not placed on the risk ladderRed List categories, explained →
Diet & preyPhotosynthesis
Predators
- White-tailed Deer
- Eastern Cottontail
- American Goldfinch
ThreatsFrequent roadside mowing, broadleaf herbicide application, and urban development
HabitatsOld fields, roadsides, woodland edges, prairies, and disturbed soils
Life span1–2 years (annual or biennial)
Classification
- OrderAsterales
- FamilyAsteraceae
- GenusLactuca
- SpeciesLactuca canadensis
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Safe to observe at a normal distance.
Responsible observation
- Identification: Look for smooth, deeply lobed or unlobed leaves that lack spines on the midvein undersides.
- Watching Wildlife: Check the flower clusters during sunny mornings when native bees visit for pollen.
Same Genus (c) George F Mayfield, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · cc-by-sa
Same Genus no rights reserved, uploaded by Kent P. McFarland · cc0
Same Genus en:User:Geographer / CC BY 1.0 · cc-by
Same Family no rights reserved, uploaded by Mary Crickmore · cc0
Same Family Walther Otto Müller / Public domain · cc0
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