Tall blue lettuce
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated April 2019.
Scientific name: Lactuca biennis (Moench) Fern.
Common name(s): tall blue lettuce, blue wood lettuce, woodland lettuce
Link(s): USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- in flower, late July
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- stem and leaves, can be variable
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- dark leaves
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- in mowed field, late July
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- range of flower stages
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- flower
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- milky sap
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- late August
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- L. biennis left, L. canadensis right
Description:
-annual or biennial
-leaves are alternate and deeply pinnately lobed
-may be confused with wild lettuce (L. canadensis), especially when not in bloom; see left sidebar of Go Botany webpage. Can also hybridize with L. canadensis; see Flora Novae Angliae information at bottom of Go Botany webpage.
Habitat:
-disturbed areas
-meadows and fields
-forest edges
Natural History:
-Native Americans used the root to treat
- pain
- vomiting
- diarrhea
Source(s):
Haines, A., Farnsworth, E., Morrison, G., & New England Wild Flower Society. (2011). New England Wildflower Society’s Flora Novae Angliae: A manual for the identification of native and naturalized higher vascular plants of New England. Framingham, MA: New England Wild Flower Society. p. 415.
Go Botany. “Lactuca Biennis (Moench) Fern.” Lactuca Biennis (Tall Blue Lettuce): Go Botany, 2020, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/lactuca/biennis/.