Mulgedium oblongifolium
Robert L. Carr

Flora of Oregon

Plants 15–100 cm.

Leaves 3–18 cm.

Heads (1)3–100+.

Phyllaries 8–13+, 12–20 mm, linear-lanceolate, tips acute.

Florets 10–50+; ligules 15–20 mm, blue.

Fruits 4–7 mm, dark brown; beaks 0.5–2 mm, whitish.

2n=18.Open forests, shrublands, grasslands, riverbanks, moist roadsides. Flowering Jun–Sep. 0–1900 m. BR, BW, Col, ECas, Lava, Owy, WV. CA, ID, NV, WA; throughout most of Canada and US. Native.

Mulgedium oblongifolium, formerly placed in Lactuca, is the only representative of the genus in North America. It is distinguished from the native, biennial species of Lactuca by its stout, long-lived rhizomes, and from most Lactuca species by its short-beaked fruits and blue flowers. The name used here replaces the better known Mulgedium pulchellum, an illegitimate name.

Photo images

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Herbarium specimens

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