Cultivated Lettuce vs Wild Lettuce

Lactuca sativa compared with Lactuca quercina

Key Differences

• Cultivated Lettuce is Not Evaluated while Wild Lettuce is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Cultivated Lettuce	Wild Lettuce
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class same	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order same	Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers)	Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers)
Family same	Asteraceae (Daisy Family)	Asteraceae (Daisy Family)
Genus same	Lactuca	Lactuca
Species	Lactuca sativa	Lactuca quercina

Evolutionary Relationship

Cultivated Lettuce and Wild Lettuce share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Lactuca.

Conservation Status

Cultivated Lettuce

NE — Not Evaluated

Wild Lettuce

EN — Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Cultivated Lettuce	Wild Lettuce
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Cultivated Lettuce

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (6 countries), Asia (5 countries), Europe (25 countries), North America (Canada, Mexico, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (6 countries).

Wild Lettuce

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Distributed across Norway, Sweden, and United States. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 3 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇺🇸 United States