Mulgedium oblongifolium (Blue Lettuce) - photos and description
General: Rhizomatous perennial often found in large colonies. Foliage when broken exudes a sticky white sap. Foliage somewhat bluish-green. Plants glabrous.
Flowers: Flowers grow in a loose panicle, they are showy, violet, we measured flowers to 3 cm diameter. Flowers are ligulate, the ligules toothed at their tip.
Leaves: Leaves are alternate, linear, sessile, entire. Leaf highlighted in photo above was 6.5 cm long and 8 mm wide. Leaves have a white midrib.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 100 cm. We measured plants to 54 cm tall.
Habitat: Moist meadows and roadsides.
Abundance: Common.
Origin: Native.
Synonym: Listed in some of the field guides we use as Lactuca pulchella, and as Lactuca oblongifolia.
When and where photographed: Photos taken July 16th, prairie hillside, Qu'Appelle Valley, 35 km north of our home in Regina, SK.