Lactuca indica: taxon details and analytics
- Domain
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Phylum
- Tracheophyta
- Class
- Magnoliopsida
- Order
- Asterales
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Genus
- Lactuca
- Species
- Lactuca indica
- Scientific Name
- Lactuca indica
Summary description from Wikipedia:
Lactuca indica
Lactuca indica, commonly known as Indian lettuce, is a species of plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. It is native to western China (Xinjiang, Tibet), the Himalayas, and southwest Asia, as far west as Turkey. It is widely introduced elsewhere, even as far as east Africa, and is thought to be an archaeophyte in Japan, brought in with rice cultivation.
Lactuca indica is a biennial herb, growing from a taproot to at least 40 cm tall and often reaching 2 m. Its flowers have white to pale yellow ray florets with yellower centers. The narrowness of the leaf blades and the degree of spikiness of leaf lobes varies greatly by region.
It is cultivated (or rather, its growth is encouraged) as fodder for rabbits, pigs, poultry and even fish in Asia. Its young leaves can be, and are, consumed as a leaf vegetable in salads like other dandelions. It is also used in traditional medicines as an aid to digestion.
...Lactuca indica in languages:
- Chinese
- 鵝仔草
- Chinese
- 山萵苣
- Chinese
- 翅果菊、山萵苣
- Chinese
- 劍葉萵苣
- English
- Indian lettuce
- Japanese
- アキノノゲシ
- Korean
- 왕고들빼기
- Portuguese
- Almeirão-roxo
- Russian
- Латук индийский
Images from inaturalist.org observations:
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Parent Taxon
Sibling Taxa
- Lactuca acanthifolia
- Lactuca aculeata
- Lactuca alpestris
- Lactuca biennis
- Lactuca brachyrrhyncha
- Lactuca brunoniana
- Lactuca canadensis
- Lactuca cichorioides
- Lactuca crambifolia
- Lactuca crassicaulis
- Lactuca cyprica
- Lactuca denaensis
- Lactuca dissecta
- Lactuca dolichophylla
- Lactuca dregeana
- Lactuca floridana
- Lactuca formosana
- Lactuca georgica
- Lactuca graminifolia
- Lactuca hazaranensis
- Lactuca hirsuta
- Lactuca hispida
- Lactuca homblei
- Lactuca indica
- Lactuca inermis
- Lactuca intricata
- Lactuca kanitziana
- Lactuca longidentata
- Lactuca ludoviciana
- Lactuca microcephala
- Lactuca orientalis
- Lactuca palmensis
- Lactuca perennis
- Lactuca praevia
- Lactuca pulchella
- Lactuca quercina
- Lactuca raddeana
- Lactuca rechingeriana
- Lactuca reviersii
- Lactuca rosularis
- Lactuca saligna
- Lactuca sativa
- Lactuca scarioloides
- Lactuca serriola
- Lactuca sibirica
- Lactuca singularis
- Lactuca soongorica
- Lactuca spicata
- Lactuca tatarica
- Lactuca tenerrima
- Lactuca tetrantha
- Lactuca triangulata
- Lactuca tuberosa
- Lactuca tysonii
- Lactuca undulata
- Lactuca variabilis
- Lactuca viminea
- Lactuca violifolia
- Lactuca virosa
- Lactuca watsoniana