Lactuca floridana
(L.) Gaertn. · speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Lactuca floridana's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation3 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility5 602 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI8 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics14 specimens↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
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 floridana, the woodland lettuce, is a North American species of wild lettuce. It is widespread across much of central Canada and the eastern and central United States from Ontario and Manitoba south as far as Texas, Louisiana, and Florida.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map Lactuca floridana is an annual biennial herb in the dandelion tribe within the daisy family growing from a taproot a height of up to 200 cm. The top of the stem bears a multibranched inflorescence with many flower heads. Each head contains 10–20 blue or white ray florets but no disc florets. The fruit is a brown achene.Flora of North America, Lactuca floridana (Linnaeus) Gaertner, 1791. Lactuca floridana was found to contain 11β,13-Dihydro-lactucin-8-O-acetate hemihydrate.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology4
Life cycle & reproduction3
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment6
Compounds documented for Lactuca floridana across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile3 classes
Documented compounds5 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8-Deoxylactucin | present | LOTUS | |
| [(3aR,4S,9aS,9bR)-9-(hydroxymethyl)-6-methyl-3-methylidene-2,7-dioxo-4,5,9a,9b-tetrahydro-3aH-azuleno[4,5-b]furan-4-yl] acetate | present | LOTUS | |
| [(3S,3aR,4S,9aS,9bR)-9-(hydroxymethyl)-3,6-dimethyl-2,7-dioxo-3,3a,4,5,9a,9b-hexahydroazuleno[4,5-b]furan-4-yl] acetate | present | LOTUS | |
| Reynosin | present | LOTUS | |
| Santamarin | present | LOTUS |
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 floridana 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 floridana 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 345×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · eflora · CCDB · book-fedorov
n 172×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · book-ipcn67-71
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 type5 602 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.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions70 of 97 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Bloomington, US | 140 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 100 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 84 |
| DOI/NPS, Mississippi National River & Recreation Arealocation not on record | 80 |
| Philadelphia, US | 77 |
| Madison, US | 49 |
| Saint Louis, US | 46 |
| Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record | 38 |
| Jackson, US | 33 |
| Fort Worth, US | 33 |
| Williamsburg, US | 28 |
| Bronx, US | 26 |
| Bangkok, TH | 25 |
| US | 21 |
| GB | 18 |
| Pittsburg, US | 17 |
| Tampa, US | 16 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 14 |
| Columbia, US | 13 |
| Tuscaloosa, US | 13 |
| Austin, US | 12 |
| Miami, US | 11 |
| Chapel Hill, US | 11 |
| College Park, US | 11 |
| Emporia, US | 9 |
| Washington, US | 9 |
| Dekalb, US | 8 |
| Allentown, US | 7 |
| St. Paul, US | 7 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 7 |
| AUAlocation not on record | 7 |
| Jefferson City, US | 7 |
| Valdosta State Universitylocation not on record | 6 |
| Clemson, US | 6 |
| China Agricultural Universitylocation not on record | 6 |
| Knoxville, US | 6 |
| Museum of the Rockieslocation not on record | 6 |
| Fayetteville, US | 5 |
| GAlocation not on record | 5 |
| Millersville, US | 5 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 5 |
| University of Southern Mississippilocation not on record | 5 |
| Davenport, US | 5 |
| Harrisonburg, US | 5 |
| University of Tennessee at Chattanoogalocation not on record | 4 |
| Tall Timbers Research Stationlocation not on record | 4 |
| Kirksville, US | 4 |
| Norfolk, US | 4 |
| Mississippi State, US | 4 |
| Burlington, US | 4 |
| Richmond, US | 4 |
| Springfield, US | 4 |
| DOI/NPS, Greenbelt Parklocation not on record | 3 |
| Chadron, US | 3 |
| Macomb, US | 3 |
| Western Carolina Universitylocation not on record | 3 |
| Fairfax, US | 3 |
| DOI/NPS, Selma to Montgomery National Historic Traillocation not on record | 3 |
| Chicago, US | 3 |
| Johnson City, US | 2 |
| Tennessee Technological Universitylocation not on record | 2 |
| EL PASO, US | 2 |
| Little Rock, US | 2 |
| Minia, EG | 2 |
| Beijing, CN | 2 |
| University of Wisconsinlocation not on record | 2 |
| Flagstaff, US | 2 |
| Tempe, US | 2 |
| Conway, US | 2 |
| Whitewater, US | 2 |
| Northridge, US | 2 |
| Columbus State Universitylocation not on record | 2 |
| Durango, MX | 2 |
| Asheville, US | 2 |
| San Angelo, US | 1 |
| Green Bay, US | 1 |
| Audubon Society -- Silver Bluff Audubon Center and Sanctuarylocation not on record | 1 |
| Québec, CA | 1 |
| US | 1 |
| Fargo, US | 1 |
| Russellville, US | 1 |
| UMKClocation not on record | 1 |
| Smithsonian Institutionlocation not on record | 1 |
| Montréal, CA | 1 |
| Pullman, US | 1 |
| Provo, US | 1 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Turlock, US | 1 |
| Grand Junction, US | 1 |
| University of New Hampshirelocation not on record | 1 |
| CASlocation not on record | 1 |
| Lincoln, US | 1 |
| Fredericksburg, US | 1 |
| Elikins, US | 1 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 1 |
| Riverside, US | 1 |
| Lord Fairfax Community Collegelocation not on record | 1 |
Where the DNA of Lactuca floridana 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.