Lactuca graminifolia, the grassleaf lettuce is a North American species of wild lettuce. It grows in Mexico, Central America, Hispaniola, and the southern United States from Arizona to Florida, Virginia and the Carolinas.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution mapSEINet, Southwestern Biodiversity, Arizona chapter, Lactuca graminifolia Michx.Tropicos, specimen listing for Lactuca graminifolia Michx.Nash, D. L. 1976. Tribe XI, Cichorieae. En Nash, D.L. & Williams, L.O. (eds), Flora of Guatemala - Part XII. Fieldiana, Botany. 24(12): 440–454, 598–603Breedlove, D.E. 1986. Flora de Chiapas. Listados Florísticos de México 4: i–v, 1–246
Description Lactuca graminifolia is a biennial herb in the dandelion tribe within the daisy family growing from a taproot a height of up to 150 cm (5 feet). The top of the stem bears a multibranched inflorescence with many flower heads. Each head contains 15-20 blue or purple ray florets but no disc florets. The fruit is a brown achene.Flora of North America, Lactuca graminifolia Michaux, 1803.
Distribution and habitat L. graminifolia's range extends from North Carolina south to Florida, and westward to Louisiana.Weakley, A.S. 2020. Flora of the Southeastern United States. Edition of 20 October 2020. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
This species has been observed in habitats such as pine flatwoods, longleaf pine-wiregrass pinelands, and fallow fields. It grows in dry,, loamy soils.Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, Lisa Keppner, Ed Keppner, Paul L. Redfearn, Jr., Robert K. Godfrey, Grady W. Reinert, Richard S. Mitchell, Gwynn W. Ramsey, H.L. Stripling, James R. Burkhalter, S.W. Leonard, L. Baltzell, D.B. Ward, D. Burch, S.G. Shelter, Kevin Oakes, R. Komarek, R.A. Norris, John B. Nelson, Travis MacClendon, and Karen MacClendon. States and Counties: Florida: Bay, CalhounColumbia, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Hernando, Jackson, Jefferson, Lake, Liberty, Leon, Levy, Madison, Marion, Okaloosa, Orange, Pasco, Polk, Taylor, and Wakulla. Georgia: Grady and Thomas.
References
External links Photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Nuevo León in 1992