Lactuca
Encyclopedia
Lactuca, commonly known as lettuce
, is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae
. The genus includes about 100 species, distributed worldwide, but mainly in temperate Eurasia
.
Its best-known representative is the garden lettuce
(Lactuca sativa), with its many varieties. "Wild lettuce" commonly refers to the wild-growing cousins of common garden lettuce. Many species are common weed
s. They are annuals or perennials. Their height can vary between 10-180 cm. They form heads or capitula
in panicles of yellow, brown or purple flowers in ray florets.
The non-edible species may contain bitter elements. Others contain a milky juice.
Lactuca species are used as food plants by the larva
e of a number of Lepidoptera
species - see list of Lepidoptera that feed on lettuces.
Lettuce
Lettuce is a temperate annual or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. It is eaten either raw, notably in salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, tacos, and many other dishes, or cooked, as in Chinese cuisine in which the stem becomes just as important...
, is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
. The genus includes about 100 species, distributed worldwide, but mainly in temperate Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
.
Its best-known representative is the garden lettuce
Lettuce
Lettuce is a temperate annual or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. It is eaten either raw, notably in salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, tacos, and many other dishes, or cooked, as in Chinese cuisine in which the stem becomes just as important...
(Lactuca sativa), with its many varieties. "Wild lettuce" commonly refers to the wild-growing cousins of common garden lettuce. Many species are common weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
s. They are annuals or perennials. Their height can vary between 10-180 cm. They form heads or capitula
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
in panicles of yellow, brown or purple flowers in ray florets.
The non-edible species may contain bitter elements. Others contain a milky juice.
Lactuca species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e of a number of Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
species - see list of Lepidoptera that feed on lettuces.
Species
- Lactuca abyssinica : (EthiopiaEthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
) - Lactuca acanthifolia : (CreteCreteCrete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
)- Lactuca acanthifolia f. amorgina
- Lactuca acanthifolia f. integrifolia : (GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
)
- Lactuca aculeata : (Asia MinorAsia MinorAsia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
) - Lactuca acuminata
- Lactuca adenophora : (ArmeniaArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
) - Lactuca alabamensis : (North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
) - Lactuca alatipes : (IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
) - Lactuca albiflora : (JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
) - Lactuca alliariaefolia : (KoreaKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
) - Lactuca alpina (also known as Cicerbita alpinaCicerbita alpinaCicerbita alpina or Alpine Blue-sow-thistle is a perennial herbaceous plant species belonging to the genus Cicerbita of the Asteraceae family.-Description:...
): (EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
) - Lactuca altaica : (Altai Mountains)
- Lactuca amagawaensis : (Japan)
- Lactuca ambigua : (Europe)
- Lactuca amoena : (China)
- Lactuca amorgina : (Greece)
- Lactuca andongensis : (tropical AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
) - Lactuca angulata : (North America)
- Lactuca × aogashimaensis : (Japan)
- Lactuca arabica : (Arabian peninsula)
- Lactuca atlantica : (Algeria)
- Lactuca atropurpurea : (China)
- Lactuca attenuata : (CongoCongo BasinThe Congo Basin is the sedimentary basin that is the drainage of the Congo River of west equatorial Africa. The basin begins in the highlands of the East African Rift system with input from the Chambeshi River, the Uele and Ubangi Rivers in the upper reaches and the Lualaba River draining wetlands...
) - Lactuca auriculata : (Himalaya)
- Lactuca axillaris : (North America)
- Lactuca azerbaijanica : (Iran)
- Lactuca balmesi : (Spain)
- Lactuca bauhini : (France)
- Lactuca benthamii : (Himalaya)
- Lactuca biauriculata : (Korea)
- Lactuca biennisLactuca biennisLactuca biennis is a species of wild lettuce known by the common names tall blue lettuce and blue wood lettuce. It is native to the eastern half of the United States and Canada, but it can also be found in much of the western half as an introduced species. This is a biennial herb in the daisy...
: Tall Blue Lettuce, Wild Blue Lettuce - Lactuca blinii : (Korea)
- Lactuca boranensis
- Lactuca brachyrrhyncha (North America, Mexico)
- Lactuca brachyrhyncha : (China)
- Lactuca brassicaefolia : (Iran)
- Lactuca brevirostris : (East Asia)
- Lactuca calophylla : (East Africa)
- Lactuca campestris
- Lactuca canadensisLactuca canadensisLactuca canadensis is a species of wild lettuce known by the common name Canada lettuce, or Canada wild lettuce. It is native to much of North America, especially in eastern regions, but it can be found all across the continent, having been introduced widely...
: Canada Lettuce, Florida Blue Lettuce, Wild Lettuce (North America)- Lactuca canadensis var. albocaerulea (North America)
- Lactuca canadensis f. angustata (North America)
- Lactuca canadensis var. angustifolia (NE USA)
- Lactuca canadensis f. angustipes (NE USA)
- Lactuca canadensis var. canadensis : Canada Lettuce
- Lactuca canadensis var. elongata
- Lactuca canadensis f. exauriculata (NE USA)
- Lactuca canadensis var. laciniata : (NE USA)
- Lactuca canadensis var. latifolia : (NE USA)
- Lactuca canadensis var. montana : (North America)
- Lactuca canadensis var. spinulosa : (North America)
- Lactuca canadensis f. stenopoda : (North America)
- Lactuca canadensis f. villicaulis : (SE USA)
- Lactuca canescens : (Turkestan)
- Lactuca capensis : (South Africa)
- Lactuca cataonica : (Asia Minor)
- Lactuca cavaleriei : (China)
- Lactuca chelidonifolia : (Japan)
- Lactuca chondrillaeflora : (Southern Europe)
- Lactuca clarkei : (Himalaya)
- Lactuca coerulea : (Austria)
- Lactuca cooperi : (India)
- Lactuca cornigera : (Morocco)
- Lactuca corymbosa: (Congo)
- Lactuca crambifolia : (Turkestan)
- Lactuca crassifolia : (Socotra)
- Lactuca crepidioides : (China)
- Lactuca cretica : (Crete)
- Lactuca deasyi : (China)
- Lactuca debilis : (Japan)
- Lactuca decorticata : (Mediterranean)
- Lactuca deggeleriana : (Switzerland)
- Lactuca deltoidea : (Caucasus)
- Lactuca denticulata : (Japan)
- Lactuca dissecta : (Himalaya)
- Lactuca diversifolia : (China)
- Lactuca dracoglossa : (Japan)
- Lactuca dregeana : (South Africa)
- Lactuca dubyaea : (Himalaya)
- Lactuca dunlapii : (Cameroun)
- Lactuca eburnea : (Rhodos)
- Lactuca edelbergii : (Afghanistan)
- Lactuca elgonensis : (Uganda)
- Lactuca elongata
- Lactuca erythrocarpa : (China)
- Lactuca fischeriana : (Siberia)
- Lactuca fistulosa : (North America)
- Lactuca flavissima : (China)
- Lactuca floridana : Florida Lettuce, Woodland Lettuce
- Lactuca forrestii : (China)
- Lactuca forsteniana : (Sulawesi)
- Lactuca funebris : (China)
- Lactuca georgica : (Georgia, Caucasus)
- Lactuca gilletii : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca glabra : (China)
- Lactuca glandulifera : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca glareosa : (China)
- Lactuca glauciifolia : (Iran)
- Lactuca gombalana : (China)
- Lactuca goraeensis : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca gracilipetiolata : (Myanmar)
- Lactuca graeca : (Greece)
- Lactuca graminifolia : Grass-leaf Lettuce, Grassleaf Lettuce (SE USA)
- Lactuca graminifolia var. arizonica : (Arizona, Texas, New Mexico)
- Lactuca graminifolia var. mexicana : (Mexico, Guatemala)
- Lactuca grandicolla : (Japan)
- Lactuca grenieri : (France)
- Lactuca grosii : (Spain)
- Lactuca haimanniana : (North Africa)
- Lactuca hallaisanensis ; (Korea)
- Lactuca henryi : (China)
- Lactuca herbanica : (Canary Islands)
- Lactuca heyneana : (India)
- Lactuca hirsuta : Hairy Lettuce (NE USA)
- Lactuca hirsuta f. calvifolia : (NE USA)
- Lactuca hirsuta var. genuina
- Lactuca hirsuta f. indivisa : (SE USA)
- Lactuca hispida : (Asia Minor)
- Lactuca hoatiensis : (Korea)
- Lactuca holophylla : (Nigeria)
- Lactuca homblei : (Congo)
- Lactuca humilis : (Ethiopia)
- Lactuca imbricata : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca × impura : (Morocco)
- Lactuca indica : Indian Lettuce
- Lactuca inermis : (Arabian peninsula)
- Lactuca integra : (Philippines)
- Lactuca integrifolia : (North America)
- Lactuca intricata : (Asia Minor)
- Lactuca intricatissima : (Afghanistan)
- Lactuca intybacea : (Nicaragua)
- Lactuca jamaicensis : (Caribbean)
- Lactuca japonica : (Japan)
- Lactuca kanitziana : (Borneo)
- Lactuca kashmiriana : (India)
- Lactuca kawaguchii : (Tibet)
- Lactuca keiskeana : (Japan)
- Lactuca kenyaensis : (Kenya)
- Lactuca khorasanica : (Iran)
- Lactuca klossii : (SE Asia)
- Lactuca koelzii : (Afghanistan)
- Lactuca kossinskyi : (Siberia)
- Lactuca kossmatii : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca kouyangensis : (China)
- Lactuca lacerrima : (China)
- Lactuca lactucarii : (France)
- Lactuca lahulensis : (India)
- Lactuca lamii : (New Guinea)
- Lactuca lebrunii : (Congo)
- Lactuca leptocephala : (Congo)
- Lactuca lessertiana : (Himalaya)
- Lactuca leucoclada : (Afghanistan)
- Lactuca longespicata : (Congo)
- Lactuca lignea : (China)
- Lactuca longifolia : (Himalaya)
- Lactuca longirostra : (Japan)
- Lactuca ludoviciana : Biannual Lettuce, Louisiana Lettuce, Wild Lettuce (NW America)
- Lactuca luzonica : (Philippines)
- Lactuca macrophylla : (North America)
- Lactuca macrorhiza : (Himalaya)
- Lactuca macroseris : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca maculata
- Lactuca malaissei : (Congo)
- Lactuca maritima : (North America)
- Lactuca marunguensis : (Congo)
- Lactuca massaviensis : (NE Africa, Arabia)
- Lactuca matsumurae : (Japan)
- Lactuca microcephala : (Asia Minor)
- Lactuca microsperma : (New Guinea)
- Lactuca morssii : Morss' Lettuce (NE USA)
- Lactuca mulgedioides : (Kurdistan)
- Lactuca mulsanti : (Spain)
- Lactuca multipes : (China)
- Lactuca muralisLactuca muralisLactuca muralis , or Mycelis muralis Dumort. is a perennial flowering plant of the genus Lactuca in the family Asteraceae, subfamily Cichorioideae, tribe Cichorieae....
: (Europe) - Lactuca mwinilungensis : (Zambia)
- Lactuca nakaiana : (Korea)
- Lactuca nana : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca napifera : (China)
- Lactuca numidica : (Algeria)
- Lactuca nummularifolia : (Korea)
- Lactuca nuristanica : (Afghanistan)
- Lactuca oblongifolia : (North America)
- Lactuca orientalisLactuca orientalisLactuca orientalis is a plant from genus Lactuca in the family Asteraceae....
: (Himalaya) - Lactuca ovatifolia : (North America)
- Lactuca pakistanica : (Pakistan)
- Lactuca pallidicoerulea : (South Africa)
- Lactuca palmensis : (Canary Islands)
- Lactuca paradoxa : (Ethiopia)
- Lactuca parishii : (Thailand)
- Lactuca paulayana : (Socotra)
- Lactuca perennisLactuca perennisLactuca perennis, common names: Blue Lettuce or Perennial lettuce, is a perennial herbaceous plant species belonging to the genus Lactuca of the Asteraceae family.-Description:...
: (Southern Europe) - Lactuca persica : (Iran)
- Lactuca petrensis : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca picridiformis : (Pakistan)
- Lactuca pilosa : (North America)
- Lactuca plumieri : (France)
- Lactuca polycephala : (India, Myanmar)
- Lactuca polyclada : (Iran)
- Lactuca polyphylla : (NW USA)
- Lactuca praecox : (Zimbabwe)
- Lactuca prattii : (China)
- Lactuca procera
- Lactuca procumbens : (India)
- Lactuca prolixa : (New Guinea)
- Lactuca pseudo-sonchus : (China)
- Lactuca pseudoumbrella : (Himalaya)
- Lactuca pulchella (NW America)
- Lactuca pumila : (Afghanistan)
- Lactuca pygmaea : (Java)
- Lactuca pyrenaica
- Lactuca quercina : (Southern Europa, Caucasus)
- Lactuca quercus : (Korea)
- Lactuca querna : (Caspian Sea)
- Lactuca racemosa : (Armenia)
- Lactuca raddiana : (Japan)
- Lactuca ramosissima : (France)
- Lactuca rapunculoides : (Himalaya)
- Lactuca rariflora : (Ethiopia)
- Lactuca repens : (Japan)
- Lactuca retrorsidens : (Borneo)
- Lactuca reviersiana : (Morocco)
- Lactuca reviersii : (Morocco)
- Lactuca riparia : (Thailand)
- Lactuca rogersii : (Madagascar)
- Lactuca rosularis : (Iran)
- Lactuca rubrolutea : (China)
- Lactuca sagittata : (Southern Europe, Asia Minor)
- Lactuca salehensis : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca salignaLactuca salignaLactuca saligna is a species of wild lettuce known by the common name willowleaf lettuce, and Least lettuce. It is native to Eurasia but it grows in many other places as an introduced species, including much of North America....
: Willow-leaf Lettuce, Willowleaf Lettuce (Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor) - Lactuca sanguinea
- Lactuca sassandrensis : (Ivory Coast)
- Lactuca sativa : Garden Lettuce, Lettuce
- Lactuca scandens : (China)
- Lactuca scariola : (Europe)
- Lactuca scarioloides : (Iran)
- Lactuca schulzeana : (Angola)
- Lactuca schweinfurthii : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca scoparia : (Afghanistan)
- Lactuca semibarbata : (Congo)
- Lactuca senecio : (Korea)
- Lactuca sereti : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca serratifolia : (Spain)
- Lactuca serriolaLactuca serriolaPrickly Lettuce is an annual or biennial plant, slightly foetid, that is commonly considered a weed of orchards, roadsides and field crops. The closest wild relative of cultivated lettuce , it grows throughout the temperate regions of all major continents. The leaves grow along a spiny stem and...
: Prickly Lettuce, China Lettuce, Wild Lettuce (Southern Europe) - Lactuca seticuspis : (Syria)
- Lactuca setosa : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca sibirica : (Siberia)
- Lactuca sonchifolia : (Europe)
- Lactuca sonchoides : (Asia Minor)
- Lactuca songeensis : (Tanzania)
- Lactuca soongarica
- Lactuca souliei : (China)
- Lactuca spicata
- Lactuca spinidens : (Siberia)
- Lactuca stebbinsii : (Angola)
- Lactuca steelei : (North America)
- Lactuca stenocephala : (Nigeria)
- Lactuca stipulata : (Congo)
- Lactuca stolonifera : (Japan)
- Lactuca sylvatica : (NW USA)
- Lactuca taitoensis : (China)
- Lactuca taliiensis : (China)
- Lactuca taquetii : (Korea)
- Lactuca taraxacifolia : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca taraxacum : (Korea)
- Lactuca tatarica : Blue Lettuce, Chickory Lettuce, Russian Blue Lettuce (Asia, India)
- Lactuca tenerrima : (Southern Europe, Morocco)
- Lactuca terrae-novae : Newfoundland Lettuce (Newfoundland)
- Lactuca tetrantha : (Cyprus)
- Lactuca thibetica : (China)
- Lactuca thirionni : (China)
- Lactuca thunbergii : (Japan)
- Lactuca tinctociliata : (Angola)
- Lactuca tricostata : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca trifida : (China)
- Lactuca triquetra : (Syria)
- Lactuca tsarongensis : (Tibet)
- Lactuca tuberosa : (Guinea)
- Lactuca ugandensis : (Congo, Uganda)
- Lactuca umbellata : (New Guinea)
- Lactuca undulata var. albicaulis : (China)
- Lactuca vanderysti : (Congo)
- Lactuca vanensis : (Armenia)
- Lactuca vaniotii : (Korea)
- Lactuca varianii : (Angola)
- Lactuca verdickii : (tropical Africa)
- Lactuca villosa
- Lactuca viminea: (Mediterranean)
- Lactuca virosaLactuca virosaLactuca virosa is a plant in the Lactuca genus, ingested often for its mild psychotropic effects which are often described as being similar to that of opium. It is related to common lettuce Lactuca virosa is a plant in the Lactuca (lettuce) genus, ingested often for its mild psychotropic...
: Wild Lettuce, Bitter Lettuce (Europe) - Lactuca visianii : (Europe)
- Lactuca wallichiana : (Afghanistan, Nepal)
- Lactuca watsoniana : (Azores)
- Lactuca welwitschii : (Madagascar, Angola)
- Lactuca wilhelmsiana : (Armenia)
- Lactuca yemensis : (Arabian peninsula)
- Lactuca zambeziaca : (Angola, Zambia)