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prickly lettuce

​Latin name: Lactuca serriola
Family: Asteraceae
Other common names; compass plant, lobed prickly lettuce, wild lettuce
Flowering time: July to September
Height: to 1.8m
Growing conditions: disturbed ground
Nectar source for: 
Food source for: 

Description
An annual plant, which forms a strong tap-root.
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How to identify: The stem is sometimes bristly. Leaves are alternate, oblong, prickly on margins and along the mid-rib beneath, sometimes irregularly lobed. The upper leaves are held in a vertical position. The flowerhead are pale yellow, in a narrow pyramidal panicle.
How to propagate: self pollinated, each flower head produces 12-17 seeds and an average plant may have 2,350 to 27,900 seeds, seeds can be blown at least 100m by the wind

Contact; Catriona Bass                               

EMAIL LONGMEAD.COUNTYWILDLIFESITE@GMAIL.COM

LONG MEAD FOUNDATION (Charity number 1196294): Email longmeadfoundation@gmail.com
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