Lactuca serriola L.

Posted byTrajche DimitrovskiPosted inCompositae

Taxonomy: Fam. Compositae// Genus: Lactuca// Species: Lactuca serriola L.

Determined according to the botanical key provided by Feráková (1976 in Tutin et al.).

Lifeform: Annual (therophyte according to the Raunkiær system) or biennial.

Distribution: Native from Europe to Arabian Peninsula, Southwest Siberia and Xinjiang, North Africa to Somalia according to the distribution information provided by the Plants of the World Online portal (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew).

Habitat: Dry and open habitats- dry grassland, rocky terrains, disturbed ground, roadsides, wastelands.

Flowering period: Summer to fall (JUL, AUG, SEP).

Locality: village of Pantelej region. Date: 22.09.2024.

Lactuca serriola – habit. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – capitulum. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – capitulum. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – side view of capitulum with involucre. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – side view of capitulum with involucre. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – spent capitul. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – developing capitula and upper cauline leaves. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – upper cauline leaf. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – upper cauline leaf. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – stem and leaf. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – stem with leaves. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – stem with leaves. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – adaxial side of leaf. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – abaxial side of leaf. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – lower part of stem. Osogovo, village of Pantelej region, 22.09.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

Locality: gorge of the Kochanska River. Date: 29.08.2021.

Lactuca serriola – habit. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – inflorescence. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – inflorescence with capitula. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – capitulum. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – capitula. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – capitulum. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – achenes. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – achenes. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – achenes. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – upper cauline leaves. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – cauline leaves. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – cauline leaves. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – cauline leaf. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – cauline leaf. Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – abaxial side of cauline leaves with spinulose midrib . Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 29.08.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

Locality: gorge of the Kochanska River. Date: 28.08.2020.

Lactuca serriola – habit. Osogovo, Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 28.08.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola– inflorescence with capitula. Osogovo, Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 28.08.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – capitula, Osogovo, Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 28.08.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – capitula. Osogovo, Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 28.08.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola -capitula. Osogovo, Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 28.08.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – capitula. Osogovo, Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 28.08.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – fruiting capitula and achenes. Osogovo, Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 28.08.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – stem with cauline leaves. Osogovo, Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 28.08.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Lactuca serriola – abaxial side of leaf with spinulose midrib. Osogovo, Gorge of “Kochanska” River, 28.08.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

References:

Feráková, V. 1976. Lactuca L. (incl. Scariola F. W. Schmidt). In Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A. (eds), Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 328–331.

Lactuca serriola. Greuter, W. 2006+: Compositae (pro parte majore). – In: Greuter, W. & Raab-Straube, E. von, Compositae. Euro+Med PlantBase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org/. https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/ff8a4bdd-8972-4344-8add-d4f111e5e11c [Accessed 21.04.2026].

Lactuca serriola L. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:228255-1 [Accessed 26.12.2021].

Last update: 21.04.2026.