Lactuca. | XLITI. COMPOSIT A, 261 
Panicle almost reduced to a long, clustered spike. Flowers yellow. 
Bea about twice the length «f the achene. , A , . 3 L. saligna. 
Leaves pinnatifid, with a triangular termiual lobe. Flowers blue. 
Beak 0 . : ; : t i , 5 ? ; . 4 LD. alpina. 
Our garden Lettuces are luxuriant forms, produced by long cultivation 
of one or perhaps two southern species, which are not satisfactorily 
identified, some botanists believing them to be cultivated states of 
L. Seariola. 
1. L. muralis, Fresen. (fig. 588). Wall L.—A glabrous, erect annual 
or biennial, about 2 feet high, with slender branches, forming a loose, 
terminal panicle. Leaves few and thin, with a broadly triangular, 
toothed or lobed, terminal segment, and a few irregular smaller ones 
along the stalk; the upper leaves narrow, entire or toothed, clasping 
the stem with prominent auricles. Flower-heads small, on slender 
pedicels. Involucres about 5 lines long, of 5 equal, linear bracts, with 
1, 2, or 3 very small outer ones, containing 4 or 5 florets. Beak of the 
achenes much shorter than the achene itself. 
In woods and shrubby places, in Europe and Russian Asia, extending 
far into the north, although not an Arctic plant. Not uncommon in 
England, Perth and Stirling in Scotland, and only known in Wicklow 
and Louth in Ireland. fl. summer. 
2. L. Scariola, Linn. (fig. 589). Prickly Z.—An erect, stiff annual 
or biennial, 2, 3, or even 4 feet high, of a more or less glaucous green, 
with short but spreading branches, and quite glabrous, except a few 
stiff bristles or small prickles on the edges or on the midrib of the 
leaves. Leaves more or less spreading, but often twisted so as to be 
vertical instead of horizontal, varying from lanceolate to broadly oblong, 
either bordered only with small teeth, or with a few short lobes or 
coarse teeth usually curved downwards, or deeply pinnatifid with few 
narrow lobes; the upper ones narrow, more entire, and clasping the 
stem with pointed auricles, Flower-heads in a more or less leafy 
panicle, sometimes long and narrow, sometimes more branched and 
spreading. Involucres 4 or 5 lines long, of a few imbricate bracts, the 
short, broad, outer ones passing gradually into the inner, long, narrow 
ones. Florets 6 to 10 or 12, of a pale yellow. Achenes much flattened, 
obovate-oblong, striated, varying in colour from nearly white to nearly 
black, with a slender beak about the length of the achene. 
In dry or stony wastes, on banks and roadsides, in central and southern 
Europe, extending over a great part of central Asia. Thinly scattered 
in Britain, from southern England to the low tracts in the south-east 
Highlands of Scotland. Fl. summer. The name of L. Scariola is often 
limited to the varieties with more erect leaves, with deeper and narrower 
lobes ; and those with broader leaves, toothed only, and not so glaucous, 
have been considered as a distinct species, under the name of L, virosa, 
Linn. 
3. L. saligna, Linn. (fig. 599). Willow Z.—Very near L. Scariola, 
but more slender and twiggy; the leaves upright against the stem, and 
narrower; the stiff panicles with branches so short that the flower- 
heads appear clustered in a simple spike; and the beak of the achene 
from twice to three times its own length. These characters are, however, 
ee variable as to occasion some doubt whether the two species are really 
istinct. 
