760 



MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



Fig. 439c. Chicory (Chicorium Intybus). a, part of plant 

 with several heads; b, single head side view; c, single flower 

 with strap shaped corolla; d, achenium with small chaffy scales. 

 (U. S. Dept. Agrl.) 



Distribution. Common in eastern states, Canada (Manitoba) and occasion- 

 ally in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Utah. 



Poisonous properties. The plants are more or less bitter and not liked by 



cattle. Their milky juice probably contains some active principle. 



i 

 3. Lactuca (Tourn.) L. Lettuce 



Tall, leafy-stemmed herbs with milky juice and alternate leaves; flowers 

 white, yellow or blue, in panicled heads ; involucre cylindrical, bracts imbricated 

 in two or more series; receptacle flat, naked; anthers sagittate at the base; 

 achenes oval, oblong or linear, abruptly contracted into a beak, dilated at the 

 apex, bearing a soft white capillary or brown pappus. 



About 90 species, natives of the northern hemisphere. Garden lettuce (L. 

 saliva}, native to Europe, is cultivated. 



Lactuca Scariola L. Prickly Lettuce 



Tall, erect herbs, annual or winter annual, 2-6 feet high, simple or branched 

 except the lower part of the stem which has stiff bristles; leaves glaucous, 

 green, smooth except the midrib which is beset with weak prickles; lanceolate 



