Lactuca serriola
Toumer in L., Cent. Pl. 2: 29. 1756. Lactuca scariola L., Sp.
Pl. ed. 2. 1119. 1763; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. india 3: 404. 1881.
Beng.: Kahu; Eng.: Prickly lettuce; Hindi: Khas; Punj.: Kahu; Tam.: Salattu; Tel.:
Kavn; Urdu: Kahu.
Herbs, annual or biennial; stems 20 - 200 cm tall, erect, glabrous, shining and sparsely bristly, leafy, corymbosely or paniculately branched above. Leaves variable, suberect, runcinate-pinnatifid, finely spinulose-toohed, 6 - 14 x 1 - 4 cm, sessile; midrib prickly white beneath; lower leaves oblong-obovate, sharply lobed; upper linear-lanceolate, base sagittate. Heads cylindric, panicled with ascending, corymbose branches, 1 - 1.2 x 0.3 - 0.4 cm, erect, glabrous; peduncle white, erect, with many appressed green, cordate bracts. Outer involucral bracts ovate, somewhat triangular, 1.5 - 3.0 x 0.5 - 1.0 mm, unequal; inner linear or linear-lanceolate, 9.12 x 1 - 2 mm. Ligules yellow. Achenes pale brown, oblanceolate, 6 - 8.5 mm including beak, flattened, slightly thick towards margins, 6 - 8 ribbed, smooth. Pappus silvery white, 4 - 5 mm, soft, simple.
Fl. & Fr. April - Oct.
Distrib. India: W. Himalayas, N.B. region, near cultivated fields, amidst grasses on exposed dry slopes. 1500-4500 m. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Asia, C.I.S. Tropical Africa, Iran, Australia and Iraq.
Herbs, annual or biennial; stems 20 - 200 cm tall, erect, glabrous, shining and sparsely bristly, leafy, corymbosely or paniculately branched above. Leaves variable, suberect, runcinate-pinnatifid, finely spinulose-toohed, 6 - 14 x 1 - 4 cm, sessile; midrib prickly white beneath; lower leaves oblong-obovate, sharply lobed; upper linear-lanceolate, base sagittate. Heads cylindric, panicled with ascending, corymbose branches, 1 - 1.2 x 0.3 - 0.4 cm, erect, glabrous; peduncle white, erect, with many appressed green, cordate bracts. Outer involucral bracts ovate, somewhat triangular, 1.5 - 3.0 x 0.5 - 1.0 mm, unequal; inner linear or linear-lanceolate, 9.12 x 1 - 2 mm. Ligules yellow. Achenes pale brown, oblanceolate, 6 - 8.5 mm including beak, flattened, slightly thick towards margins, 6 - 8 ribbed, smooth. Pappus silvery white, 4 - 5 mm, soft, simple.
Fl. & Fr. April - Oct.
Distrib. India: W. Himalayas, N.B. region, near cultivated fields, amidst grasses on exposed dry slopes. 1500-4500 m. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Asia, C.I.S. Tropical Africa, Iran, Australia and Iraq.
