Lactuca pulchella | |
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Flower and buds | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Genus: | Lactuca |
Species: | L. pulchella
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Binomial name | |
Lactuca pulchella DC.
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Lactuca pulchella, known as blue lettuce, common blue lettuce, or wild blue lettuce, is a North American flowering plant in the sunflower family, Asteraceae.[1] Some authors place it as a subspecies or variety of a broader concept of Lactuca tatarica, while others consider L. tatarica to occur only in Europe and Asia.[1][2] Lactuca pulchella (with L. tatarica and others) is commonly separated into the genus Mulgedium, as Mulgedium pulchellum.[3][4]
Among the Zuni people of New Mexico in the southwestern United States, the dried root gum of Lactuca pulchella has been used as chewing gum.[5]