# Willowleaf Lettuce

*Lactuca saligna*

Its leaves often align north-south to avoid the intense midday sun, earning wild lettuces the nickname 'compass plants'.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Asterales › Asteraceae › Lactuca
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Dry open fields, roadsides, coastal shingle, and disturbed ground.
- **Diet:** Autotrophic (photosynthesis, drawing water and minerals from soil)
- **Range:** Europe, North Africa, Western Asia, North America, Australia
- **Size:** 30 to 100 cm tall
- **Lifespan:** 1-2 years (annual or biennial)
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat loss due to intensive agriculture, urbanization, and over-clearing of ruderal sites.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. This plant is safe to observe and touch. It exudes a bitter, milky white latex when damaged, which can cause mild skin irritation in sensitive individuals; wash skin with soap and water if contact occurs. Do not ingest.

## About

Lactuca saligna is a species of wild lettuce known by the common name willowleaf lettuce , and least lettuce . It is native to Eurasia but it grows in many other places as an introduced species, including much of North America.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/6b70b58d-8627-4fb2-820f-d19c479cb4a0
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53105
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactuca saligna
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/611041532/medium.jpg (zebedeugalinha, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.