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

See Examples For:

wild lettuce

Back in the meadows where thistles and wild lettuce are going to seed, the hard-bills spend their holidays.

From Sigurd Our Golden Collie and Other Comrades of the Road by Bates, Katharine Lee

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.

It makes a specialty of the seeds of the members of the Order Compositae, and is especially fond of the seeds of ragweed, thistles, wild lettuce and wild sunflower.

From Our Vanishing Wild Life Its Extermination and Preservation by Hornaday, William Temple

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

Us jus' go in de woods and git wild lettuce and mustard and leather-britches and polk salad and watercress, all us want to eat.

From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves: Volume XVI, Texas Narratives, Part 4 by United States. Work Projects Administration