Lettuce is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, such as soups, sandwiches and wraps; it can also be grilled. One variety, celtuce, is grown for its stems, which are eaten either raw or cooked. In addition to its main use as a leafy green, it has also gathered religious and medicinal significance over centuries of human consumption. Europe and North America originally dominated the market for lettuce, but by the late 20th century the consumption of lettuce had spread throughout the world. As of 2021, world production of lettuce and chicory was 27 million tonnes, 53 percent of which came from China.
Sonchus is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae and are commonly known as sow thistles. Sowthistles are annual, biennial or perennial herbs, with or without rhizomes and a few are even woody.
Lactuca serriola, also called prickly lettuce, 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.
Cicerbita alpina, commonly known as the alpine sow-thistle or alpine blue-sow-thistle is a perennial herbaceous species of plant sometimes placed in the genus Cicerbita of the family Asteraceae, and sometimes placed in the genus Lactuca as Lactuca alpina. It is native to upland and mountainous parts of Europe.
Cicerbita is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Asia and Europe. They are known commonly as blue sow thistles. The word Cicerbita is from the Italian, meaning "chickory-like", a comparison to Cichorium, the chicory genus.
Lactuca saligna is a species of wild lettuce known by the common name willowleaf lettuce, and least lettuce. It is native to Eurasia but it grows in many other places as an introduced species, including much of North America.
Lactuca tatarica, known as blue lettuce, is a Eurasian flowering plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across much of Europe and Asia.
Blue lettuce, wild blue lettuce, or common blue lettuce can refer to:
Lactuca pulchella, known as blue lettuce, common blue lettuce, or wild blue lettuce, is a North American flowering plant in the sunflower family, Asteraceae. Some authors place it as a subspecies or variety of a broader concept of Lactuca tatarica, while others consider L. tatarica to occur only in Europe and Asia. Lactuca pulchella is commonly separated into the genus Mulgedium, as Mulgedium pulchellum.
Cicerbita macrophylla, commonly known as common blue-sow-thistle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.
Lactuca raddeana is a species of wild lettuce native to Vietnam, eastern China, the Korean peninsula, the Russian Far East, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, and Japan. A biennial or perennial, growing to 2 m, it has a very wide range of variation in leaf shape, across a spectrum from undivided leaves to pinnatipartite leaves. It is edible but bitter.
Lactuca tenerrima is a species of wild lettuce native to southern France, Spain, the Balearic Islands, and the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Unlike other species in its genus Lactuca, even in its family Asteraceae, it does not produce bitter-tasting sesquiterpene lactones.
Lactuca watsoniana, locally known as alfacinha, is a species of wild lettuce endemic to the Azores. An endangered species, there are fewer than 2000 individuals remaining in the wild. DNA evidence shows that it is closely related to the North American species of Lactuca, while the Canary Islands endemic Lactuca palmensis is more closely related to African and European Lactuca lineage.
Lactuca palmensis is a species of wild lettuce endemic to the Canary Islands. DNA evidence shows that it is closely related to the African and European species of Lactuca, while the Azores endemic Lactuca watsoniana is more closely related to the North American lineage.
Lactuca dolichophylla, the long-leaved lettuce, is a species of wild lettuce found in Afghanistan, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Nepal, Xizang (Tibet), East Himalaya, south-central China, and Myanmar. It prefers to grow in thickets at c.3200 m above sea level. Its chromosome count is 2n=16.
Cabobanthus bullulatus is a plant in the family Asteraceae, native to tropical Africa.
Orbivestus catumbensis is a plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Angola and Zambia.
Oocephala centauroides is a plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Mozambique, Eswatini and South Africa.
Sonchus fruticosus, the giant sow thistle, is a species of flowering plant in the tribe Cichorieae of the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to the islands of Madeira. The giant sow thistle is an impressive shrub native to the Madeiran evergreen forest habitat and growing up to 4 metres in height.
Gerbera ambigua is a species of flowering plant in the section Lasiopus of genus Gerbera belonging to the basal Mutisieae tribe within the large Asteraceae family.
