Lactuca tuberosa

Lactuca tuberosa is a perennial herb in the Asteraceae family, growing 10-75 cm tall with tuberous roots. It has glabrous, erect, and sulcate stems that are usually unbranched. Lower leaves are narrowly obovate to oblong, lyrate-pinnatisect or pinnatifid, while middle and upper leaves are auriculate and amplexicaul. The synflorescence is racemiform or paniculiform, with 3-45 heads. Each head has up to 15 flowers with pale violet or yellow ligules. The involucre is cylindrical, with glaucous and often purple-tinted bracts. Achenes are fusiform, compressed, and winged, with a long, whitish beak. The pappus is white and scabridulous. This species is distributed across the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of the Caucasus.