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4 BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS OF KASHMIR [Plate 34
Fig. 5. Lactuca scariola, Linn. Prickly Lettuce.
(Scariola may have been derived from seriola, diminutive of the
Greek seris, lettuce, or from serriola, a small saw, alluding to the
prickly leaves.)
A tall, erect, glabrous, very leafy plant, 2-5 ft. high, branched,
usually prickly towards the base ; juice very acrid. Leaves
stalkless, 5-7 in. long, pinnatifid, segments toothed, pointing
downwards lower surface
; usually prickly on the mid-rib and
nerves. Upper leaves erect, arrow-shaped below, stemclasping.
Heads yellow, ^ in. long, erect, scattered in a
panicle with long spreading branches, branches and flowerstalks
white with many green heart-shaped bracts. Involucral
bracts egg-shaped, the inner ones linear. Achenes \ in. long
including the very slender beak, ribbed, grey, pale, beak about
as long as the body. Pappus 5 in. long.
Flowers. June.
Locality. Ganderbal.
Distribution. W. Himalaya, from Murree to Kunawer,
6,000-11,000 ft., Siberia, Europe, Canaries.
Pig. 6.
Lactuca sp.
Locality.
Gagangir (Hallberg).
Lactuca dissecta,
D. Don.
{Dissecta means dissected, alluding to the leaves.)
Glabrous or nearly so. Stems often tufted, erect, 6-18 in.
high, leafy and much branched or naked and nearly simple.
Leaves 1-4 in. long, pinnatifid, lobes varying much in size
and cutting ;
radical leaves usually many, stalkless ;
lower
stem-leaves stalked ; upper ones stalkless, lobed at the base ;
uppermost linear. Heads many, J-J in. long, erect, narrowly
cylindric, few-flowered, forming corymbs, stalks slender ;
flowers pale blue. Achenes inversely lance-shaped, transversely
wrinkled, 3-ribbed on each face, margins thickened,
beak very slender, twice as long as the body.
Flowers. June.
Locality. Ganderbal.
Distribution. Temperate Himalaya, from Kashmir to
Bhutan, 4,000-8,000 ft., W. Tibet, Afghanistan, Baluchistan,
Salt Eange.