Prickly Lettuce
Scientific Name: Lactuca serriola
Also Known As: Compass Plant and Wild Lettuce
Weed Family: Asteraceae
Description
Prickly lettuce is a winter annual. The leaves form in a basal rosette. Prickly lettuce has a deep taproot which will exude a milky sap. Prickly lettuce will produce an upright stem on which the leaves will be alternate. The mature leaves are deeply lobed. The leaves will twist vertical to the stem. The leaves have a row of spines along the mid-vein of the lower surface. The flowers of prickly lettuce are yellow in color and approximately 1/3” in diameter. Flowers are produced in late spring to early summer. Prickly lettuce reproduces by seed. Prickly lettuce is found throughout most of the United States and Canada except southern Florida, northern Maine and Newfoundland.
Herbicide Use
For optimum control, apply your post-emergence herbicide to prickly lettuce that is actively growing and in the seedling to flower stage of growth.
Distribution
Germination Dates
Zone-3: August
Zone-4: September
Zone-5: September
Zone-6: October
Zone-7: November
Zone-8: November
Zone-9: December
PBI-Gordon Product Recommendations
