Lactuca

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Campanulids
Ordo: Asterales

Familia: Asteraceae
Subfamilia: Cichorioideae
Tribus: Cichorieae
Subtribus: Lactucinae
Genus: Lactuca
Species: L. acanthifolia – L. aculeata – L. adenophora – L. alpestris – L. alpina – L. altaica – L. anatolica – L. aurea – L. azerbaijanica – L. biennis – L. boissieri – L. bourgaei – L. bracteata – L. calophylla – L. canadensis – L. crambifolia – L. cyprica – L. deltoidea – L. dissecta – L. dolichophylla – L. dregeana – L. fenzlii – L. floridana – L. georgica – L. glandulifera – L. glareosa – L. glaucifolia – L. graciliflora – L. graminifolia – L. haimanniana – L. hirsuta – L. hispida – L. indica – L. inermis – L. intricata – L. jamaicensis – L. kochiana – L. lasiorhiza – L. lessertiana – L. longidentata – L. ludoviciana – L. macrophylla – L. macrorhiza – L. madatapensis – L. marschallii – L. microcephala – L. mulgedioides – L. muralis – L. olgae – L. orientalis – L. oyukludaghensis – L. palmensis – L. pancicii – L. paradoxa – L. perennis – L. persica – L. plumieri – L. praecox – L. praevia – L. pulchella – L. quercina – L. racemosa – L. raddeana – L. rechingeriana – L. reviersii – L. rostrata – L. rosularis – L. saligna – L. sativa – L. scarioloides – L. schulzeana – L. schweinfurthii – L. serriola – L. sibirica – L. singularis – L. spinidens – L. takhtadzhianii – L. tatarica – L. tenerrima – L. tetrantha – L. triangulata – L. triquetra – L. tuberosa – L. undulata – L. variabilis – L. viminea – L. virosa – L. watsoniana – L. winkleri
L. yemensis – L. zambeziaca

Name

Lactuca L., Sp. Pl. 1: 795. 1 (1753)

Typus: L. sativa

Synonyms

Bunioseris Jord.
Cephalorrhynchus Boiss.
Cyanoseris Schur in Verh. Mitth. Siebenbürg. Vereins Naturwiss. Hermannstadt 4: 43. (1853) nom. nud.
Lactucella Nazarova
Lactucopsis Vis. & Pančić
Lagedium Soják
Mulgedium Cass.
Mycelis Cass. in F. Cuvier, Dict. Sci. Nat. 33: 483. Dec 1824.
Phaenixopus Cass.
Phaenopus DC.
Pterocypsela C.Shih
Scariola F.W.Schmidt
Wiestia Sch.Bip.

References

Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 795.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Lactuca in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Aug. 14. Reference page.
Hassler, M. Aug.. Lactuca. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. Aug.. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: Aug. 14 {{{3}}}. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2021. Lactuca. Published online. Accessed: Aug. 14 2021.
Cichorieae Portal (2009-). International Cichorieae Network. 2009 Aug 30 [1].

Vernacular names
العربية: خس
azərbaycanca: Süddəyən
башҡортса: Латук
català: Lletuga
čeština: locika
dansk: Salat
Deutsch: Lattiche, Lattich
English: Lettuce
Esperanto: Laktuko
eesti: Salat
فارسی: لاکتوکا
suomi: Salaatit
français: Laitue
magyar: saláta
հայերեն: հազար
日本語: アキノノゲシ属
ქართული: ღორისქადა
қазақша: Ассүттіген
한국어: 왕고들빼기속
lietuvių: Salota
norsk bokmål: Salater
Nederlands: Sla
norsk nynorsk: Planteslekta salat
Ирон: Къæсула
polski: Sałata
português: Lactacella
русский: Латук
slovenčina: šalát
svenska: Sallatsläktet
ไทย: สกุลผักกาดหอม
українська: Латук
Tiếng Việt: Chi Rau diếp
walon: Salåde
中文: 莴苣属

Lactuca, commonly known as lettuce, is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The genus includes at least 50 species, distributed worldwide, but mainly in temperate Eurasia.

Its best-known representative is the garden lettuce (Lactuca sativa), with its many varieties. "Wild lettuce" commonly refers to the wild-growing relatives of common garden lettuce. Many species are common weeds. Lactuca species are diverse and take a wide variety of forms. They are annuals, biennials, perennials, or shrubs.[2] Their flower heads have yellow, blue, or white ray florets. Some species are bitter-tasting.

Most wild lettuces are xerophytes, adapted to dry habitat types. Some occur in more moist areas, such as the mountains of central Africa.[2]

Diversity
Wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa) by Otto Wilhelm Thome in Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, 1885
Prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola)
Lactuca tenerrima
Lactuca serriola
Lactuca tatarica

There are different concepts of the species within Lactuca. It is not clear how many distinct species are known, and estimates vary from 50[1] to 75[3] so far.

Species include:[1][3][4][5]

Lactuca acanthifolia (Crete, Turkey)
Lactuca aculeata (Asia Minor)
Lactuca acuminata
Lactuca adenophora
Lactuca alpestris (Crete)
Lactuca alpina (syn. Cicerbita alpina)[6] (Europe) - alpine sow-thistle, alpine blue-sow-thistle, tall blue lettuce
Lactuca altaica (Eurasia)
Lactuca attenuata[7] (Africa)
Lactuca aurea (Europe)
Lactuca azerbaijanica (Iran)
Lactuca biennis (North America) – tall blue lettuce, blue wood lettuce
Lactuca calophylla (Africa)
Lactuca canadensis (North America) – Canada wild lettuce, tall lettuce
Lactuca corymbosa (Congo)
Lactuca crambifolia (Turkestan)
Lactuca cyprica (Cyprus) - Cyprus lettuce
Lactuca deltoidea
Lactuca dissecta (Asia)
Lactuca dolichophylla (Asia)
Lactuca dregeana (South Africa) – melkdissel, slaaidissel
Lactuca dumicola
Lactuca erostrata[8] (Pakistan)
Lactuca fenzlii
Lactuca floridana (North America) – Florida lettuce, woodland lettuce
Lactuca georgica (Asia)
Lactuca glaucifolia (Asia)
Lactuca graciliflora (Asia)
Lactuca graminifolia (Americas) – grassleaf lettuce
Lactuca haimanniana
Lactuca henryi
Lactuca hirsuta (North America) – downy lettuce, hairy lettuce
Lactuca hispida
Lactuca homblei[9] (Zaire, Zambia)
Lactuca imbricata[10] (Africa)
Lactuca indica (Asia) - Indian lettuce
Lactuca inermis (Africa, Arabian Peninsula)
Lactuca intricata (Albania, Greece, Turkey)
Lactuca jamaicensis (Jamaica)
Lactuca kanitziana
Lactuca kochiana
Lactuca lasiorhiza[11] (Africa)
Lactuca ludoviciana (North America) – biannual lettuce
Lactuca macrophylla
Lactuca mira
Lactuca muralis
Lactuca mwinilungensis[12] (Zaire, Zambia)
Lactuca nana[13] (Africa)
Lactuca orientalis (Asia, Egypt)
Lactuca palmensis[14] (Canary Islands)
Lactuca paradoxa
Lactuca parishii
Lactuca perennis (Europe) – blue lettuce, mountain lettuce
Lactuca persica
Lactuca petrensis
Lactuca quercina (Eurasia)
Lactuca racemosa
Lactuca raddeana (Asia)
Lactuca rechingeriana
Lactuca rosularis (Iran, Turkmenistan)
Lactuca saligna (Eurasia) – willow lettuce, least lettuce, narrow-leaf lettuce
Lactuca sativa – lettuce, garden lettuce
Lactuca scarioloides (western Asia)
Lactuca schulzeana (Angola, Cameroon, Zaire)
Lactuca schweinfurthii (Africa)
Lactuca serriola (Africa, Asia, Europe) – prickly lettuce, compassplant, scarole, milk thistle
Lactuca setosa (Africa)
Lactuca sibirica (Eurasia)
Lactuca singularis[15] (Spain)
Lactuca songeensis
Lactuca spinidens (Tajikistan, Turkmenistan)
Lactuca stebbinsii[16] (Angola)
Lactuca takhtadzhianii (Armenia)
Lactuca tatarica (Northern Hemisphere) – blue lettuce
Lactuca tenerrima (southern Europe, Morocco)
Lactuca tetrantha[17] (Cyprus)
Lactuca tinctociliata
Lactuca triangulata (Asia)
Lactuca triquetra
Lactuca tuberosa (Eurasia)
Lactuca ugandensis
Lactuca undulata (Asia)
Lactuca viminea (Africa, Asia, Europe) – pliant lettuce
Lactuca virosa (Europe, northern Africa) – bitter lettuce, great lettuce
Lactuca watsoniana[18] (Azores)
Lactuca winkleri (Tajikistan)

Ecology

Lactuca species are used as food plants by the larvae of many Lepidoptera species.
Etymology

'Lactuca' is derived from Latin and means 'having milky sap'. 'Lactuca' and 'lactic' (of or relating to milk) have the same root word, 'lactis'.[19]
Footnotes

Lactuca. Flora of China.
Lebeda, Aleš; Dolezalová, Ivana; Feráková, Viera; Astley, Dave (2004). "Geographical Distribution of Wild Lactuca Species (Asteraceae, Lactuceae)". The Botanical Review. 70 (3): 328–356. doi:10.1663/0006-8101(2004)070[0328:GDOWLS]2.0.CO;2.
Lactuca. Flora of North America.
GRIN Species Records of Lactuca. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).
Lactuca. The Plant List. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Missouri Botanical Garden.
"Cicerbita alpina". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 17 December 2017.
Lactuca attenuata. Flora Zambesiaca. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Bano, R. and M. Qaiser. (2011). A taxonomic revision of the genus Lactuca L. (Cichorieae-Asteraceae) from Pakistan and Kashmir. Pakistan Journal of Botany 43(5) 2259–268.
Lactuca homblei. Flora Zambesiaca. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Lactuca imbricata. Flora Zambesiaca. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Lactuca lasiorhiza. Flora Zambesiaca. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Lactuca mwinilungensis. Flora Zambesiaca. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Lactuca nana. Flora Zambesiaca. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Santos Guerra, A. 2011. Lactuca palmensis. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. Downloaded on 07 July 2013.
Draper, D. 2011. Lactuca singularis. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. Downloaded on 07 July 2013.
Kilian, N. (2001). Lactuca stebbinsii (Lactuceae, Compositae), a puzzling new species from Angola.[permanent dead link] Willdenowia - Annals of the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin - Dahlem 31(1) 71–8.
Kyratzis, A., et al. 2011. Lactuca tetrantha. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. Downloaded on 07 July 2013.
Schaefer, H. 2011. Lactuca watsoniana. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. Downloaded on 07 July 2013.
Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521866453 (hardback), ISBN 9780521685535 (paperback). pp 228