Summary
Place of publication:
Cent. pl. II:29. 1756 (Amoen. acad. 4:328. 1759)
Comment:
- authorship often attributed to Torner
- doubtfully distinct from L. sativa L.
Verified:
10/02/1996
ARS Systematic Botanists.
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Reference(s)
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- Allan, H. H. B. et al. Flora of New Zealand. 1961-
- Boulos, L. Flora of Egypt. 1999-
- Chinese Academy of Sciences. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae. 1959-
- CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. The CIBA-GEIGY Weed Tables. 1974
- Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
- Diggs, G. M., Jr. et al. Shinner's and Mahler's illustrated flora of North Central Texas. 1999
- Erhardt, W. et al. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen. 2008
- Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
- Exell, A. W. et al., eds. Flora zambesiaca. 1960-
- Feráková, V. 1977. The genus Lactuca in Europe. 64-67.
- FNA Editorial Committee. Flora of North America. 1993-
- Foster, S. & J. A. Duke. A field guide to medicinal plants: Eastern/Central North America, 2nd ed. 2000
- Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14. 2003
- Grellin, J. K. & J. Philpott. A reference guide to medicinal plants. 1990
- Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm.
- Hnatiuk, R. J. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11. 1990
- Huxley, A., ed. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 1992
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- Izquierdo Z., I. et al., eds. Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias: hongos, plantas y animales terrestres. 2004
- Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc. 1931-1941
- Kartesz, J. T. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 1994
- Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. Flora SSSR. 1934-1964
- Koopman, W. J. M. et al. 1998. Phylogenetic relationships among Lactuca (Asteraceae) species and related genera based on ITS-1 DNA sequences. Amer. J. Bot. 85:1517-1530.
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- Koopman, W. J. M. et al. 2001. Species relationships in Lactuca s.l. (Lactuceae, Asteraceae) inferred from AFLP fingerprints. Amer. J. Bot. 88:1881-1887.
- Krasnoborov, I. M., ed. Flora of Siberia (English translation). 2000-
- Lebeda, A. et al. 2004. Geographical distribution of wild Lactuca species (Asteraceae, Lactuceae). Bot. Rev. (Lancaster) 70:328-356
- Lebeda, A. et al. 2009. Wild Lactuca germplasm for lettuce breeding: current status, gaps and challenges. Euphytica 170:15-34.
- Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. Hortus third. 1976
- Mabberley, D. J. The plant-book: a portable dictionary of the vascular plants, ed. 2. 1997
- McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
- McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
- Migahid, A. M. Flora of Saudi Arabia, ed. 3. 1988-1990
- Moerman, D. Native American ethnobotany, ed. 5. 1998
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- Radford, A. E. et al., eds. Vascular flora of the southeastern United States. 1980-
- Rechinger, K. H., ed. Flora iranica. 1963-
- Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
- Ryder, E. J. 1999. Lettuce, endive and chicory. Crop Prod. Sci. Hort. 9:134.
- Rzedowski, J. & G. Rzedowski, eds. Flora del Bajio y de regiones adyacentes. 1991-
- Sharma, B. D. et al., eds. Flora of India. 1993-
- Shreve, F. & I. L. Wiggins. Vegetation and flora of the Sonoran desert. 1964
- Silva, L. et al. Listagem da fauna e flora terrestres dos Açores. Lista des plantas vasculares (Pteridophyta e Spermatophyta). 2005
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- Zuloaga, F. O. & O. Morrone, eds. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de la República Argentina. I. Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae y Angiospermae (Monocotyledonae), II. Dicotyledonae. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 60, 74. 1996, 1999
Common names
English
compassplant – milk thistle – prickly lettuce – scarole – Arabic
khass el-baqar – khass el-homar – French
laitue sauvage – German
Kompass-Lattich – Stachellattich – wilder Lattich – Portuguese
alface-silvestre – Portuguese (Brazil)
alface-de-espinho – Spanish
escarola – lechuga espinaca – Swedish
taggsallat –
Distribution
| order_code | Status | Continent | Subcontinent | Country | State | Note |
| 1 | Native | Africa | Macaronesia | Portugal | Madeira Islands | |
| 1 | Native | Africa | Macaronesia | Spain | Canary Islands | |
| 1 | Native | Africa | Northeast Tropical Africa | Ethiopia | | |
| 1 | Native | Africa | Northern Africa | Algeria | | |
| 1 | Native | Africa | Northern Africa | Egypt | | |
| 1 | Native | Africa | Northern Africa | Morocco | | |
| 1 | Native | Africa | Northern Africa | Tunisia | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Arabian Peninsula | Saudi Arabia | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Caucasus | Armenia | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Caucasus | Azerbaijan | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Caucasus | Georgia | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Caucasus | Russian Federation | Dagestan | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Caucasus | Russian Federation-Ciscaucasia | Ciscaucasia | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | China | China | Xinjiang | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Middle Asia | Kazakhstan | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Middle Asia | Kyrgyzstan | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Middle Asia | Tajikistan | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Middle Asia | Turkmenistan | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Middle Asia | Uzbekistan | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Siberia | Russian Federation | Altay | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Siberia | Russian Federation | Kemerovo | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Siberia | Russian Federation | Kurgan | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Siberia | Russian Federation | Novosibirsk | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Siberia | Russian Federation | Omsk | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Siberia | Russian Federation | Tuva | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Siberia | Russian Federation | Tyumen | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Afghanistan | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Cyprus | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Egypt | Sinai | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Iran | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Iraq | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Israel | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Jordan | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Lebanon | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Syria | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Turkey | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Tropical | Indian Subcontinent | India | Arunachal Pradesh | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Tropical | Indian Subcontinent | India | Himachal Pradesh | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Tropical | Indian Subcontinent | India | Jammu and Kashmir | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Tropical | Indian Subcontinent | India | Uttar Pradesh | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Tropical | Indian Subcontinent | Pakistan | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | East Europe | Belarus | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | East Europe | Moldova | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | East Europe | Russian Federation-European part | European part | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | East Europe | Ukraine | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Middle Europe | Austria | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Middle Europe | Belgium | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Middle Europe | Czech Republic | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Middle Europe | Germany | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Middle Europe | Hungary | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Middle Europe | Netherlands | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Middle Europe | Slovakia | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Middle Europe | Switzerland | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Northern Europe | Denmark | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Northern Europe | United Kingdom | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southeastern Europe | Albania | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southeastern Europe | Bosnia and Herzegovina | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southeastern Europe | Bulgaria | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southeastern Europe | Croatia | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southeastern Europe | Greece | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southeastern Europe | Italy | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southeastern Europe | Montenegro | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southeastern Europe | North Macedonia | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southeastern Europe | Romania | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southeastern Europe | Serbia | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southeastern Europe | Slovenia | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southwestern Europe | France | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southwestern Europe | Portugal | | |
| 1 | Native | Europe | Southwestern Europe | Spain | | |
| 2 | Cultivated | | | | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Africa | South Tropical Africa | Zimbabwe | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Africa | Southern Africa | Botswana | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Africa | Southern Africa | Lesotho | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Africa | Southern Africa | South Africa | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Australasia | Australia | Australia | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Australasia | New Zealand | New Zealand | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Europe | East Europe | Estonia | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Europe | East Europe | Latvia | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Europe | East Europe | Lithuania | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Europe | Middle Europe | Poland | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Europe | Northern Europe | Finland | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Europe | Northern Europe | Ireland | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Europe | Northern Europe | Norway | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Europe | Northern Europe | Sweden | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Eastern Canada | Canada | New Brunswick | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Eastern Canada | Canada | Nova Scotia | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Eastern Canada | Canada | Ontario | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Eastern Canada | Canada | Prince Edward Island | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Eastern Canada | Canada | Quebec | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | North-Central U.S.A. | United States | Illinois | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | North-Central U.S.A. | United States | Iowa | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | North-Central U.S.A. | United States | Kansas | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | North-Central U.S.A. | United States | Minnesota | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | North-Central U.S.A. | United States | Missouri | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | North-Central U.S.A. | United States | Nebraska | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | North-Central U.S.A. | United States | North Dakota | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | North-Central U.S.A. | United States | Oklahoma | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | North-Central U.S.A. | United States | South Dakota | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | North-Central U.S.A. | United States | Wisconsin | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | Connecticut | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | Indiana | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | Maine | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | Massachusetts | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | Michigan | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | New Hampshire | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | New Jersey | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | New York | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | Ohio | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | Pennsylvania | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | Rhode Island | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | Vermont | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northeastern U.S.A. | United States | West Virginia | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northern Mexico | Mexico | Baja Norte | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northern Mexico | Mexico | Coahuila | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northern Mexico | Mexico | Sonora | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northwestern U.S.A. | United States | Colorado | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northwestern U.S.A. | United States | Idaho | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northwestern U.S.A. | United States | Montana | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northwestern U.S.A. | United States | Oregon | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northwestern U.S.A. | United States | Washington | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Northwestern U.S.A. | United States | Wyoming | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | South-Central U.S.A. | United States | New Mexico | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | South-Central U.S.A. | United States | Texas | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | Alabama | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | Arkansas | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | Delaware | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | District of Columbia | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | Florida | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | Georgia | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | Kentucky | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | Louisiana | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | Maryland | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | Mississippi | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | North Carolina | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | South Carolina | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | Tennessee | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southeastern U.S.A. | United States | Virginia | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southern Mexico | Mexico | Federal District | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southern Mexico | Mexico | Guanajuato | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southern Mexico | Mexico | Mexico | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southern Mexico | Mexico | Michoacan | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southern Mexico | Mexico | Queretaro | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southwestern U.S.A. | United States | Arizona | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southwestern U.S.A. | United States | California | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southwestern U.S.A. | United States | Nevada | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Southwestern U.S.A. | United States | Utah | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Western Canada | Canada | Alberta | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Western Canada | Canada | British Columbia | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Western Canada | Canada | Manitoba | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Northern America | Western Canada | Canada | Saskatchewan | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Southern America | Brazil | Brazil | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Southern America | Southern South America | Argentina | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Southern America | Southern South America | Chile | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Southern America | Southern South America | Paraguay | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | Southern America | Southern South America | Uruguay | | |
Native
Africa
-
MACARONESIA:
Spain [Canary Islands], Portugal [Madeira Islands]
-
NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA:
Ethiopia
-
NORTHERN AFRICA:
Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia
Asia-Temperate
-
ARABIAN PENINSULA:
Saudi Arabia
-
CAUCASUS:
Russian Federation-Ciscaucasia [Ciscaucasia], Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation [Dagestan]
-
CHINA:
China [Xinjiang]
-
MIDDLE ASIA:
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
-
SIBERIA:
Russian Federation [Tuva, Altay, Kemerovo, Kurgan, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tyumen]
-
WESTERN ASIA:
Afghanistan, Cyprus, Egypt [Sinai], Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
Asia-Tropical
-
INDIAN SUBCONTINENT:
India [Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh], Pakistan
Europe
-
EAST EUROPE:
Russian Federation-European part [European part], Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine
-
MIDDLE EUROPE:
Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Slovakia
-
NORTHERN EUROPE:
Denmark, United Kingdom
-
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE:
Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Croatia, Italy, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia
-
SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE:
Spain, France, Portugal
Cultivated
()
Naturalized
Africa
-
SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA:
Zimbabwe
-
SOUTHERN AFRICA:
Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa
Australasia
-
AUSTRALIA:
Australia
-
NEW ZEALAND:
New Zealand
Europe
-
EAST EUROPE:
Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia
-
MIDDLE EUROPE:
Poland
-
NORTHERN EUROPE:
Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden
Northern America
-
EASTERN CANADA:
Canada [New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec]
-
NORTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.:
United States [Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin]
-
NORTHEASTERN U.S.A.:
United States [Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia]
-
NORTHERN MEXICO:
Mexico [Baja Norte, Coahuila, Sonora]
-
NORTHWESTERN U.S.A.:
United States [Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming]
-
SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.:
United States [New Mexico, Texas]
-
SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.:
United States [Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, District of Columbia]
-
SOUTHERN MEXICO:
Mexico [Federal District, Guanajuato, Mexico, Michoacan, Queretaro]
-
SOUTHWESTERN U.S.A.:
United States [Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah]
-
WESTERN CANADA:
Canada [Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan]
Southern America
-
BRAZIL:
Brazil
-
SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA:
Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
Economic Uses
| Usage | Type | Note | Reference |
| Environmental | ornamental | | Huxley, A., ed. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 1992 |
| Medicines | folklore | | McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000 |
| Vertebrate poisons | mammals | | Kingsbury, J. M. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. 1964 |
| Weed | potential seed contaminant | | CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. The CIBA-GEIGY Weed Tables. 1974 |
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System.
2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network
(GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://ausgenebank.agriculture.vic.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=21365.
Accessed 16 April 2026.