| Author | (Moench) Fernald | |
| Distribution | Mountains and northern Piedmont; near the Deep River in Lee County; abandoned field in Sandhills of Scotland County, an odd habitat and disjunction.
Lab. to AK, south to NC, TN, AZ, and CA. | |
| Abundance | Uncommon to fairly common in the Mountains; uncommon in the northwestern Piedmont, and very rare southeast to Lee and Scotland counties. Essentially absent in the Coastal Plain and parts of the Piedmont. | |
| Habitat | Moist to mesic soil of openings in floodplain forests and bottomlands, woodland margins, meadows, pastures, old fields. It has some affinity for sites with circumneutral soil. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting August-October. | |
| Identification | Our native lettuces are tall (mostly 3-6 feet or more), have ray florets only, and have milky white juice. Tall Blue Lettuce is one of three with lavender-bluish florets. It can be told from Woodland Lettuce (L. floridana) by the tawny (vs. white) color of the pappus (long feathery hairs attached to the seed) and from Grassleaf Lettuce (L. graminifolia) by the latter's slender and toothless or few-toothed leaves. Most Lactuca species are quite robust, and some reach over your head in height (such as this species); when in bloom with the light blue flowers, the plants are quite striking. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
| |
| Other Common Name(s) | None | |
| State Rank | S3? [S3S4] | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FACU link |
| USACE-emp | FACU link |
