Plants and Animals

Lactuca floridana Woodland lettuce

Key Characteristics

Very tall forb (2 m) of open woods; leaves mostly with petioles, ranging from elliptic with serrated margins to deeply dissected; flowers blue in an open, widely spreading inflorescence.

Status and Rank

US Status: No Status/Not Listed
State Status: T - Threatened (legally protected)
Global Rank: G5 - Secure
State Rank: S2 - Imperiled

Occurrences

County	Number of Occurrences	Year Last Observed
Delta	1	1990
Dickinson	1	1990
Houghton	1	1934
Monroe	1	1925
Muskegon	1	1961
Washtenaw	2	1997
Wayne	2	1950

Information is summarized from MNFI's database of rare species and community occurrences. Data may not reflect true distribution since much of the state has not been thoroughly surveyed.

Habitat

Collected in lakeplain areas and sandy oak woods in southeast Lower Michigan.

Natural Community Types

For each species, lists of natural communities were derived from review of the nearly 6,500 element occurrences in the MNFI database, in addition to herbarium label data for some taxa. In most cases, at least one specimen record exists for each listed natural community. For certain taxa, especially poorly collected or extirpated species of prairie and savanna habitats, natural community lists were derived from inferences from collection sites and habitat preferences in immediately adjacent states (particularly Indiana and Illinois). Natural communities are not listed for those species documented only from altered or ruderal habitats in Michigan, especially for taxa that occur in a variety of habitats outside of the state.

Natural communities are not listed in order of frequency of occurrence, but are rather derived from the full set of natural communities, organized by Ecological Group. In many cases, the general habitat descriptions should provide greater clarity and direction to the surveyor. In future versions of the Rare Species Explorer, we hope to incorporate natural community fidelity ranks for each taxon.

Associated Plants

Known associates in south-central Iowa occurrences included sugar maple (Acer saccharum), Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra), wild columbine (Aquliegia canadensis), sedge (Carex cephalophora), shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), grey dogwood (Cornus foemina), rough-leaved dogwood (Cornus drummondii), Philadelphia fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus), white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), pellitory (Parietaria pensylvanica), may-apple (Podophyllum peltatum), choke cherry (Prunus virginiana), black oak (Quercus velutina), white oak (Quercus alba), Missouri gooseberry (Ribes missouriense), false spikenard (Maianthemum racemosum), carrion-flower (Smilax herbacea), elm-leaved goldenrod (Solidago ulmifolia), basswood (Tilia americana), and downy arrowwood (Viburnum rafinesquianum).

Management Recommendations

The primary need at the present is a status survey. If found, it would likely benefit from maintenance of natural disturbance associated with dry woods and savannas such as prescribed fire.

Survey Methods

Random meander search covers areas that appear likely to have rare taxa, based on habitat and the judgment of the investigator.

Meander search
- Survey Period: From first week of June to first week of September

References

Survey References

Elzinga, C.L., D.W. Salzer, and J.W. Willoughby. 1998. Measuring and Monitoring Plant Populations. The Nature Conservancy and Bureau of Land Management, Denver. BLM Technical Reference 1730-1. 477pp.

Goff, G.F., G.A. Dawson, and J.J. Rochow. 1982. Site examination for Threatened and Endangered plant species. Environmental Management 6(4): 307-316

Nelson, J.R. 1984. Rare Plant Field Survey Guidelines. In: J.P. Smith and R. York. Inventory of rare and endangered vascular plants of California. 3rd Ed. California Native Plant Society, Berkeley. 174pp.

Nelson, J.R. 1986. Rare Plant Surveys: Techniques For Impact Assessment. Natural Areas Journal 5(3):18-30.

Nelson, J.R. 1987. Rare Plant Surveys: Techniques for Impact Assessment. In: Conservation and management of rare and endangered plants. Ed. T.S. Elias. California Native Plant Society, Sacramento. 8pp.

Technical References

Deam, C. C. 1940. Flora of Indiana. Department of Conservation, Indianapolis. 1236pp.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee ed. 1993. Flora of North America. New York, New York, USA. Available at: http://www.efloras.org.

Mckenna, D.D. 2004. Flora and vegetation of Kalamazoo County, Michigan. The Michigan Botanist 43: 137–359.

Mcwilliams, E.L., and L.K. Ludwig. 1972. Floral phenology at the Mattaei Botanical Gardens: 1969–1971. The Michigan Botanist 11: 83–114.

Reznicek, A.A., E.G. Voss, and B.S. Walters. 2011. Chenopodium standleyanum Aellen. Michigan Flora Online. University of Michigan. Web. Available at: https://michiganflora.net/species.aspx?id=72 [Accessed January 10, 2020].

Skojac, D.A., C.T. Bryson, and C.H. Walker II. 2007. Noteworthy collections from the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Region of Mississippi. Journal of Botanical Research Institute of Texas 1: 769–775.

Thompson III, F.R. Ed. 2004. The Hoosier-Shawnee Ecological Assessment. US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. 267 pp.

Van Bruggen, T. 1958. The flora of southcentral Iowa. Dissertation, University of Iowa. 505 pp.

Voss, E.G., and A.A. Reznicek. 2012. Field Manual of Michigan Flora. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI. 1008 pp.

Watson, S. 1874. A revision of the North American Chenopodiaceae. Proceedings (1846-1906) American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston 9: 82.

Wheeler, G.A., E.J. Cushing, E. Gorham, T. Morley, and G.B. Ownbey. 1992. A major floristic boundary in Minnesota: An analysis of 280 taxa occurring in the western and southern portions of the state. Canadian Journal of Botany 70: 319–333.

Wheeler, G.A., R.P. Dana, and C. Converse. 1991. Contribution to the vascular (and moss) flora of the Great Plains: A floristic survey of six counties in western Minnesota. The Michigan Botanist 30: 75–129.