Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Lactuca saligna
Common name
Willow-leaved Lettuce, Wild Lettuce
Family
Asteraceae
Where found
Pastures, roadsides, gardens, and disturbed sites. Mainly Canberra and the Sydney area. Occasional elsewhere.
Notes
Introduced annual or biennial herb, usually less than 2 m high. Leaves sometimes with spines along the lower midrib. Stems hairless, whitish. Leaves green, basal and alternating up the stems, basal and lower stem leaves deeply dissected, rarely entire, 8–20 cm long, 5–50 mm wide, upper leaves entire to dissected, becoming bract-like below the flowers, sometimes with spines along the lower midrib, bases stem-clasping. Flower heads with 6-15 'petals’, pale yellow, sometimes reddish on the back, each 4-5 mm long. Flower heads narrow cylindrical below the 'petals', 7–15 mm long, very slender. Flower heads in clusters of 1-3 at the base of small leaves. Flowering: October–May.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Lactuca~saligna (accessed 22 January, 2021)
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