Lactuca aculeata

{{Short description|Species of plant in the genus Lactuca}}

{{Speciesbox

|image=

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|genus=Lactuca

|species=aculeata

|authority=Boiss.Fl. Orient. 3: 809 (1875)

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Lactuca aculeata is a species of wild lettuce native to Anatolia, the Levant, Iraq and Iran.{{cite web |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:227841-1 |title=Lactuca aculeata Boiss. |author= |date=2017 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=12 September 2020 }} A very prickly plant, it is closely related to Lactuca serriola (prickly lettuce) and Lactuca sativa (cultivated or garden lettuce), and can readily interbreed with them. It is possible that Lactuca aculeata contributed to the gene pool of cultivated lettuce.{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.bse.2012.02.008 |title=Genetic polymorphism in Lactuca aculeata populations and occurrence of natural putative hybrids between L. aculeata and L. serriola |year=2012 |last1=Lebeda |first1=Aleš |last2=Kitner |first2=Miloslav |last3=Křístková |first3=Eva |last4=Doležalová |first4=Ivana |last5=Beharav |first5=Alex |journal=Biochemical Systematics and Ecology |volume=42 |pages=113–123 }}