Common Name: prickly lettuce, compass weed, compass plantScientific Name: Lactuca serriola L., syn, Lactuca scariolaFamily Name: Asteraceae (Compositae) - Aster or Sunflower FamilyIdentification NotesLife Cycleintroduced annual, winter annual or biennial, reproducing by seed Stemsupright, tall, usually prickly near ground, leafy, hollow Leavesalternate, oblong to oblanceolate, deeply lobed, lobes tip pointed backwards (sometimes unlobed), usually linear above, margins toothed or prickly, stem leaves clasping with bases pointed, blueish-green, midrib below with yellow prickles Flowersheads of yellow ray (ligulate) florets; terminal clusters Other: contains milky sap