Native plant? Weed? Both?

18 years ago

Does anyone recognize this? I posted on the Weeds forum and no one there knew what it is. Someone on the Name That Plant forum suggested Lactuca or perhaps Prenanthes. That sounds likely, so it could be either native or exotic. So, even if it is native, is it worth keeping? I really hate to let it flower, then decide it has to go. If my timing isn't perfect, it will go to seed and then I'll have more of them next year.

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Comments (5)

sam_md
18 years ago
Lactuca or Wild Lettuce has:
- flowers blue, purplish or yellow, 6 to 30 per head.
- flowers held erect.
- some species native, some introduced.
- annual, biennial or perennial.
Prenanthes or White Lettuce has:
- flowers white, pink or cream, 5 to 15 per head.
- flowers nodding.
- all species native.
- all species perennial.
This was taken from a flora of Maryland and may or may not apply to NC. Look at your plant again and give us some more feedback.
Sam
shelley_r
Original Author
18 years ago
Sam, it hasn't flowered yet, and I dont' know if it's an annual, biennial, or perennial, so I can't answer any of your questions. I'm hoping someone will recognize the seed heads.

My searches of images have turned up Prenanthes altissima or Lactuca saligna as the species looking most like my plant. One of them (maybe both, I forgot) mentions variable leaf shapes. Anyone familiar with either of those? Does my plant look like either?

Why can't I have common weeds? It takes forever to identify so many of the plants growing on my property. Oh well, the dogs knocked over one of these today, so maybe it won't matter what it is.

Shelley
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edfinney
18 years ago
The very distinctive shape of the leaves remind me of the leaves of Mexican Hat . However, it doesn't seem to match in any other particular. Perhaps that will give you a lead. It might be some sort of cousin. They plant them along the roadside in New Mexico. They have a sort of daisy like flower that resembles a sombrero.
Treedoc66
18 years ago
Cut off the flower buds now, regardless of what it is. When you find out if it going to stay or get yanked out, you wont have to worry about seeds being dispersed.
If it was something desirable, you can look forward to the flowers next year. If it a weedy, exotic thing, you can rest knowing the seed head never opened.

Rx
paalexan
18 years ago
Looks like Lactuca from here. As far as I know, Prenanthes altissima would always have the lobes of the stem leaves (when there are lobes, there aren't always) pointed away from the stem, rather than towards it. I'd also expect Prenanthes to have smaller leaves that far up the stem... OTOH, there are a few Lactucas with stem leaves precisely that shape.

Patrick Alexander