Mulgedium pulchellum (Pursh) G.Don (Pursh) Stebbins
blue lettuce
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
blue lettuce
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from extensive rhizomes; stems erect, branched above, solitary, glabrous or glaucous, 0.2-1.2 m tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves alternate, linear to lanceolate or oblong, the lower ones 5-14 cm long, 6-35 mm wide, entire or more or less pinnately cut, rarely sharply toothed, stalked, the upper ones reduced, becoming entire, unstalked to somewhat clasping.
Flowers:
Heads with strap-shaped flowers, several to numerous in an elongate to rounded inflorescence; involucres 15-20 mm tall; involucral bracts narrowly egg-shaped, graduated, the outer shorter, often purplish; ray flowers blue or sometimes violet to blue, 18-50.
Fruits:
Achenes oblong-lanceolate, short-beaked, the beak equaling or less than 1/2 the length of the body, compressed, several-nerved on each face, glabrous, 6-7 mm long including the prominent beak, pale brown; pappus white.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Mulgedium pulchellum
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
754 | 365 | 970 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
18 | 0 | 70 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
101 | 38 | 315 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 2 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
11 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(2), IDF(5), PP(2), SBS(2) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to mesic meadows and shrublands in the steppe and montane zones; frequent throughout all but NW and SW BC; N to AK, YT and NT, E to ON, MN and MO and S to OR and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Lactuca tatarica subsp. pulchella (L.) C.A. Mey.