Wild-lettuce

Lactuca intybacea Jacquin in J. A. Murray, Syst. Veg. ed. 14, 713. 1784; Brachyramphus intybacea (Jacquin) de Candolle

Leaves (5–)10–25+ × 2–6(–12) cm, usually runcinately to sinuately lobed, bases ± auri-culate, ultimate margins spinulo-denticulate, apices acute to acuminate. Involucres 10–15 mm. Cypselae 4–5 mm; pappi 6–9 mm. 2n = 18 (as Lactuca runcinata).

Flowering year-round. Disturbed sites, roadsides, coastal strands, agricultural lands; 0–5[–1200+] m; introduced; Fla., Tex.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America; introduced also in Old World.

Launaea intybacea is occasionally used for food. It is a very successful r-strategist and is listed as a noxious plant in A Global Compendium of Weeds (R. Randall, http://www.hear.org/gcw/index.html).