Tall Lettuce (Wild Lettuce)

Scientific Name - Lactuca canadensis L.
Family - Compositae

Tall biennial with essentially no hairs. Leaves alternate, large, sessile or clasping. Leaf margins entire or small teeth and/or lobed. Flowers yellow-orange, turning purple with age, in heads at tips of stems. Forms a large taproot with a rosette of leaves in first year of growth. In second year, a long, erect leafy stem which contains a bitter, milky juice is formed. Reproduces by seed. Occurs in disturbed areas, roadsides, pastures, and open woods. Found throughout the United States except for Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Also occurs in Canada and the West Indies.