Lactuca biennis
(Moench) Fernald · speciesAt a glance
Sources10 archives
Databases and archives Lactuca biennis's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation3 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility4 663 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI11 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics24 specimens↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Lactuca biennis is a North American species of wild lettuce known by the common names tall blue lettuce and blue wood lettuce. It is widespread across much of the United States and Canada from Alaska and Yukon south as far as California, New Mexico, and Georgia.Biota of North America Program 2014 state-level distribution map Lactuca biennis is a biennial herb in the dandelion tribe within the daisy family growing from a taproot to heights anywhere from one half to four meters (20 inches to over 13 feet). There are deeply lobed, toothed leaves all along the stem. The top of the stem bears a multibranched inflorescence with many flower heads. Each head is just over a centimeter (0.4 inches) wide and has many whitish to light blue ray florets but no disc florets. The fruit is a mottled achene about half a centimeter (0.2 inches) long with a brownish pappus. Lactuca biennis was described botanically in 1794, with the name Sonchus biennis, then transferred to Lactuca in 1940.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology4
Life cycle & reproduction2
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment6
Physiology & chemistry2
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Lactuca biennis has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Lactuca biennis carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 347×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · eflora · CCDB · book-fedorov +3
polyploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type4 663 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions76 of 107 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Philadelphia, US | 219 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 217 |
| Madison, US | 184 |
| St. Paul, US | 122 |
| Québec, CA | 93 |
| Bloomington, US | 58 |
| Bronx, US | 46 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 45 |
| Acadia Universitylocation not on record | 44 |
| Université Lavallocation not on record | 41 |
| University of New Hampshirelocation not on record | 39 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 39 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 35 |
| Pullman, US | 32 |
| Saint John, CA | 29 |
| WTUlocation not on record | 27 |
| Corvallis, US | 27 |
| Montréal, CA | 26 |
| Burlington, US | 26 |
| Toronto, CA | 26 |
| Allentown, US | 24 |
| Vancouver, CA | 20 |
| Missoula, US | 19 |
| Moscow, US | 18 |
| Keene State Universitylocation not on record | 18 |
| University of Alberta Museumslocation not on record | 17 |
| Green Bay, US | 15 |
| New Haven, US | 9 |
| DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record | 9 |
| College Park, US | 9 |
| Moscow State Universitylocation not on record | 9 |
| USFS/BHSClocation not on record | 8 |
| Bangkok, TH | 7 |
| Morgantown, US | 7 |
| McWane Science Centerlocation not on record | 7 |
| Denver, US | 7 |
| Dekalb, US | 6 |
| Western Carolina Universitylocation not on record | 6 |
| Staten Island, US | 6 |
| Williamsburg, US | 6 |
| Little Rock, US | 6 |
| Tacoma, US | 5 |
| San Luis Obispo, US | 5 |
| Logan, US | 5 |
| Johnson City, US | 5 |
| WINlocation not on record | 5 |
| Spearfish, US | 5 |
| Bozeman, US | 5 |
| Albuquerque, US | 5 |
| Victoria, CA | 4 |
| Trois-Rivières, CA | 4 |
| Chicago, US | 4 |
| Philadelphia, US | 4 |
| Chapel Hill, US | 4 |
| Whitehorse, CA | 4 |
| Provo, US | 4 |
| Ypsilanti, US | 3 |
| Anchorage, US | 3 |
| Musee des Dinosaures d'Esperaza (Aude)location not on record | 3 |
| Museum of the Rockieslocation not on record | 3 |
| Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record | 3 |
| Davenport, US | 3 |
| Durango, US | 2 |
| Arcata, US | 2 |
| Research Collection of B. A. Bennettlocation not on record | 2 |
| Fargo, US | 2 |
| Richmond, US | 2 |
| DOI/NPS, Greenbelt Parklocation not on record | 2 |
| Millersville, US | 2 |
| Whitewater, US | 2 |
| Hudson, US | 2 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 2 |
| GZUlocation not on record | 2 |
| Pocatello, US | 2 |
| Fort Worth, US | 2 |
| Yellowstone National Park Herbariumlocation not on record | 2 |
| University of Guelph, OAC Herbariumlocation not on record | 2 |
| Smithsonian Institutionlocation not on record | 2 |
| Waverly, US | 2 |
| Flagstaff, US | 2 |
| Clemson, US | 2 |
| Saint Louis, US | 1 |
| Claremont, US | 1 |
| Kew, GB | 1 |
| Emporia, US | 1 |
| Caldwell, US | 1 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 1 |
| Yukon Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Paris, FR | 1 |
| Boise, US | 1 |
| Cincinnati, US | 1 |
| Pittsburg, US | 1 |
| Knoxville, US | 1 |
| Angwin, US | 1 |
| Fairfax, US | 1 |
| Lord Fairfax Community Collegelocation not on record | 1 |
| US | 1 |
| Memorial University of Newfoundlandlocation not on record | 1 |
| New Brunswick, US | 1 |
| Long Beach, US | 1 |
| Durham, US | 1 |
| Stockholm, SE | 1 |
| Davis, US | 1 |
| HJAEFlocation not on record | 1 |
| Oswego, US | 1 |
| DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record | 1 |
| GBS RAN - Glavny Botanichesky Sad Rossijskoj Akademii Nauklocation not on record | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Lactuca biennis was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.