Lactuca saligna

Narrow leaved wild lettuce

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Narrow leaved wild lettuce is a naturalized annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada foothills, Sacramento Valley, Central Western California, and Southwest California in roadsides and grasslands at elevations below 750 meters. Flowering from July to November, this plant produces pale yellow flowers in small heads 4 to 5 millimeters wide, arranged in narrow, spike-like clusters. Growing with multiple stems 30 to 100 centimeters tall, initially decumbent and arching upward or erect, the plant has smooth or slightly bristly stems near the base. Its leaves are linear to lanceolate, with a sagittate or hastate base that clasps the stem, sometimes featuring a few linear lobes. The fruit is brown with dark mottling, 2.5 to 3.5 millimeters long, topped with a thread-like beak 5 to 6 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Roadsides, grassland

Bloom period: Jul-Nov

Elevation: < 750 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, n SNF, ScV, CW, SW

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