Lactuca canadensis

Canada lettuce

Family: Asteraceae · Type: biennial · Not Native

Canada lettuce is a naturalized biennial found in the Klamath Ranges and northern Sierra Nevada in forest and disturbed areas at elevations below 1,400 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces pale yellow to blue flowers in open heads 5 to 10 millimeters wide arranged in large, panicle-like clusters. Growing with erect stems 50 to 250 centimeters tall from a taproot, it develops numerous leaves that range from linear to ovate with toothed or lobed edges. Its leaves vary from wing-petioled at the base to sessile and clasping higher on the stem, with some upper leaves reduced to linear bracts. The fruit is black, elliptic, and 3 to 4 millimeters long with a slender 2 to 3 millimeter beak topped by a white pappus.

Habitat: Forest, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: < 1400 m

Bioregions: KR, n SN

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.