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Lactuca serriola
Also called Compass Plant, Milk Thistle, China Lettuce, Lobed Prickly Lettuce, Scarole, Prickly Lecttuce, Wild Lettuce
Prickly lettuce is a weedy annual or biennial wild relative of cultivated lettuce, native to Eurasia and North Africa and now naturalized elsewhere. It is grown mainly as a wild salad or herb rather than as a garden crop.
Lactuca serriola, also called prickly lettuce, milk thistle (not to be confused with Silybum marianum, also called milk thistle), compass plant, and scarole, is an annual or biennial plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. It has a slightly fetid odor and is commonly considered a weed of orchards, roadsides and field crops. It is the closest wild relative of cultivated lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.).
Lactuca serriola is native to Eurasia and North Africa, and has become naturalized elsewhere.
It can cause pulmonary emphysema in cattle feeding exclusively on the plant.
Lactuca serriola is native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has become naturalized elsewhere.
Lactuca serriola can be eaten as a salad, although it has something of a bitter taste. Young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. Older leaves can be steamed. While unsubstantial, its roots have been used as a coffee substitute.
Tall blue lettuce · Canada lettuce · Indian lettuce · Willowleaf lettuce · Celtuce · Iceberg lettuce · Romaine lettuce · Lettuce · Bitter lettuce · Lettuce
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lactuca serriola by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
