wild lettuce

American  

noun

1. any of various uncultivated species of lettuce, growing as weeds in fields and waste places, especially a North American species, Lactuca canadensis.

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wild lettuce British  

noun

1. any of several uncultivated lettuce plants, such as Lactuca serriola (or L. scariola ) of Eurasia and L. canadensis ( horseweed ) of North America, which grow as weeds and have yellow or blue flowers, milky juice in the stem, and prickly leaves: family Asteraceae (composites)

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Example Sentences

Grasses and wild lettuce were next to alfalfa in importance.

From Natural History of the Prairie Vole (Mammalian Genus Microtus) [KU. Vol. 1 No. 7] by Jameson, E. W.

The wild lettuce yields down for the hummingbird's nest, and the flowers of whiteweed are used by the kingbird and cedar-bird.

From The Writings of John Burroughs — Volume 05: Pepacton by Burroughs, John

There is a wild lettuce from which the cultivated probably came.

From The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming. by Shaw, Ellen Eddy

The wild lettuce yields down for the humming-bird's nest, and the flowers of whiteweed are used by the kingbird and cedar-bird.

From A Year in the Fields by Burroughs, John

Many grasslands have a stand of dandelions; sow thistle, wild lettuce, and ragweed were also common in some grasslands.

From Natural History of the Prairie Vole (Mammalian Genus Microtus) [KU. Vol. 1 No. 7] by Jameson, E. W.