| Scientific Name: | Lactuca sativa |
| Common Name: | lettuce |
| Family Name: | Asteraceae |
| Origin: | Central / west Asia, Europe |
| Hardiness Zone: | Zone 2: (-46 to -40 °C) |
| Plant Type: | Annual (true), Weed (horticultural) |
| Mature Size: | 0.7 - 1.3m x 0.3 - 0.6m (height x width) |
| Habit: | Upright |
| Form: | Oval - vertical |
| Texture: | Coarse |
| Landscape Uses: | Urban agriculture |
| Exposure: | Full sun |
| Soil or Media: | Rocky or gravelly or dry |
| Leaves: | Simple, Basal, Soft flexible, Pinnate venation, Glabrous, Oblong, Orbicular, Spatulate, Dentate, Entire, Undulate (wavy) |
| Flowers: | Head (capitulum), Yellow, Aug-Sep |
| Fruit: | Cypsela (achene + calyx), Brown, Silver, Sep-Oct |
| Key ID Features: | |
| Common types include: 1. Butterhead lettuce leaves rounded 10-20cm long x 8-15cm wide in loose heads, texture soft, tender, and slightly crinkled or smooth, light green to pale yellow, sometimes with reddish tinges; 2. Romaine lettuce leaves Long, upright leaves with a central rib 20-30cm long x 5-10 cm wide, texture: crisp and firm, especially along the midrib, dark green on the outer leaves, with lighter green to white near the base; 3. Iceberg lettuce leaves tightly packed forming a dense, spherical head, outer leaves 15-20cm long x 10-15cm wide, texture crisp, firm, and smooth, pale green to white at the core; 4. Loose-leaf lettuce leaves loosely arranged with frilly, wavy, or deeply lobed edges, 10-25cm long x 5-15cm wide, texture soft to moderately crisp, depending on the variety, bright green to deep red or bronze hues. | |