Lactuca perennis

For another plant known as mountain lettuce, see Podolepis robusta.

Lactuca perennis, common names: mountain lettuce,^[2] blue lettuce or perennial lettuce, is a perennial herbaceous plant species belonging to the genus Lactuca of the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across most of central and southern Europe.^[3] Its leaves are edible.^{[citation needed]}

Lactuca perennis
1796 illustration[1]
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Lactuca
Species:	L. perennis
Binomial name
Lactuca perennis L. 1753

Description

Lactuca perennis reaches on average 60 centimetres (24 in) of height, with a minimum height of 20 centimetres (7.9 in). This plant is glabrous, the stems are erect and branched, leaves are greyish-green, the lower ones with a small petioles, the upper ones partly amplexicaul. It is hermaphrodite and entomophilous. The flowers are violet-blue, with a size of 30–40 millimetres (1.2–1.6 in). The flowering period extends from April through August and the seeds ripen from July until September.^[4]

In southern France it is sometimes referred to by its Occitan name “breou” or “breu”

Flower of Lactuca perennis

Leaves of Lactuca perennis

Habitat

These plants prefer calcareous well-drained soils and they are common on sunny rocky soils, on dry meadows, on roadsides and on banks of rivers. They can be found on average at 500–2,000 metres (1,600–6,600 ft) above sea level.