Prickly Lettuce Lactuca serriola Leitís cholgach Family: Asteraceae Flowering time: July-September. Annual or biennial. Introduced. Panicles of pale-yellow flowers with uneaqual bracts. Seedheads with olive-grey, purple-tipped, beaked achenes, the pappus with simple hairs. Thick oblong-lanceolate, waxy-green leaves, the lower leaves often pinnate and stem-clasping. There are spines on the leaf edges and underneath the white veins. Height 30-120cm. A rare casual but increasing in Ireland since 1990's on disturbed ground, roadsides and waste ground, often near ports

Prickly Lettuce, Lactuca serriola, Leitís cholgach