Lactuca serriola

Other Names: Wild Lettuce, Compass Plant

Introduced From: Egypt and Asia Minor

Family: Asteraceae, Daisy Family. 25,000 species in 1100 genera worldwide, about 1000 species in 200 genera in Australia.

Habitat: Roadsides and wastelands

Uses: Young leaves are an excellent vegetable, raw or cooked. Older leaves are coarse and very bitter.

References: Low (Weeds), Richardson and Shepherd

About Prickly Lettuce

From Tim Low's book: Breeding experiments show that prickly lettuce is the ancestor of all forms of cultivated lettuce. Lettuces with rounded heads were not recorded until 1543. There can be a lot of variations in the shape of the leaves of wild lettuces, but they will all have flat leaves, not heads like an iceberg lettuce.

The sap of lettuces is milky, and their name "Lactuca" comes from the Latin word for milk. Most plants with milky sap are poisonous, though there are a few exceptions. The flowers look a bit like dandelion flowers.

Photo: Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce. Kingswood, NSW.

Photo: Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce. Emu Plains, NSW.

Photo: Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce. Kingswood, NSW.

Photo: Lactuca serriola, Prickly Lettuce. Emu Plains, NSW.

See Also

Australian Mammals
Australian Birds
Australian Reptiles
Australian Frogs
Australian Fish
Australian Spiders and Their Faces

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