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Lactuca muralis; photograph Benjamin Zwittnig, CC BY 2.5 si, via Wikimedia Commons CC BYBenjamin Zwittnig, CC BY 2.5 si, via Wikimedia Commons

Lactuca muralis (L.) Gaertn.

Asteraceae · Denmark, Finland +37

English names not checked: Wikidata's common names were not read for this page.

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Lactuca muralis, photograph Anneli Salo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsLactuca muralis, photograph Donald Hobern from Copenhagen, Denmark, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsLactuca muralis, photograph AnRo0002, CC0, via Wikimedia CommonsLactuca muralis, photograph Donald Hobern from Copenhagen, Denmark, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsLactuca muralis, photograph Oceancetaceen - Alice Chodura, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsLactuca muralis, photograph Oceancetaceen - Alice Chodura, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons 12 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
-11.3°C
Record low -26.3 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
22°C
Jul and Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
892mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
4–33DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Rain spread: 70% of the median year's rain takes 8 months, so no short rainy season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Lactuca muralis, the wall lettuce, is a perennial flowering plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. It is also referred to as Mycelis muralis.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Lactuca muralis", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Lactuca

Lactuca, commonly known as lettuce, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The genus includes at 117 recognized species, distributed worldwide, but mainly in temperate Eurasia.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Lactuca", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads no short rainy season: 70% of the median year's rain (637 mm of 886 mm) takes 8 months, June to January. Mean temperature moves 16.1 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: December to July.

Rain

886 mm in the median year at the habitat, 637 mm of it June to January. Wettest months (2 at 83 mm), driest month April at 50 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 667 mm to 1,274 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 892 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 886 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 4 to 33 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 3, the highest 90th-percentile month 37).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is -11.3 °C, the absolute minimum -26.3 °C, 3,314 frost nights in 44 years, 75.3 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 29.7 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low -0.7 °C in January and February (across the grid cells of the range -5.2 °C to 1.7 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 21.9 °C in July (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: -11.3 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 60 to 69% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -59 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Lactuca muralis through the yearWarmest months July and August, mean daily high 22 °C; coldest months January and February, mean nightly low -0.7 °C; 886 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost29.7° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-26.3° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0255075100125mm rainDLI 4–33RH 60–69%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 350 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C4 / 1–75 / 2–79 / 6–1013 / 10–1417 / 15–1820 / 18–2122 / 20–2422 / 20–2418 / 16–1914 / 12–158 / 6–105 / 2–7
Night °C-1 / -5–2-1 / -5–12 / -2–34 / 2–58 / 6–911 / 10–1214 / 12–1514 / 12–1511 / 9–127 / 5–93 / 0–50 / -4–2
Rain mm78 / 43–10660 / 38–8571 / 47–10150 / 43–8768 / 57–11376 / 62–12083 / 62–11779 / 65–11777 / 58–11080 / 58–11581 / 57–11183 / 55–118
DLI5 / 4–910 / 9–1517 / 16–2227 / 26–3032 / 31–3533 / 33–3733 / 32–3727 / 27–3219 / 18–2411 / 10–166 / 5–104 / 3–7
RH %68 / 64–7065 / 61–6763 / 60–6560 / 58–6260 / 58–6260 / 58–6260 / 58–6261 / 59–6263 / 61–6465 / 63–6768 / 65–7069 / 65–71
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 350 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (403 records in those cells; 8 more cells hold records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cells are left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 757:3773 (52.125, 8.675). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -26.3 °C, 1st-percentile night -11.3 °C, 99th-percentile day 29.7 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 350 distinct grid cells holding 403 of the 411 in-range records (8 further cells with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 757:3773 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 52.00_8.750, lapse-corrected -59 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 83 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.

This species has no GBIF key of its own. Its records are GBIF's under the key of the name Kew's World Checklist holds as this plant: 3139040 (Mycelis muralis (L.) Dumort., 900 records). No name was matched to GBIF; the keys are read from Kew's synonymy. How.

NativeDenmark, Finland, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Corse, France, Sardegna, Spain, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania, Sicilia, Turkey-in-Europe, Yugoslavia, Belarus, Baltic States, Krym, Central European Russia, East European Russia, South European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Ukraine, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Turkey · introduced: Ireland, British Columbia, Ontario, Québec, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker51.96, 5.95 · in the densest population, 127 records (30% of those in range)
Kew's description“annual or perennial” · “temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 424 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 403 of them in the land cells it reads, of 411 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 103 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 603 km away. 241 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 13 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 3139040 (Mycelis muralis (L.) Dumort.): Kew's file holds it as Mycelis muralis (L.) Dumort. (synonym under Lactuca muralis (L.) Gaertn.); 900 records, from GBIF's search API on the day of the build.
How this section is made
The map marker: the centre of the tenth-degree cell nearest the middle (no openly licensed record lies in the population, so no record's coordinates are published) of the densest 1° population of the 424 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Lactuca muralis, photograph 1did not loadLactuca muralis, photograph 2did not loadLactuca muralis, photograph 3did not loadLactuca muralis, photograph 4did not loadLactuca muralis, photograph 5did not loadLactuca muralis, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: Anneli Salo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Donald Hobern from Copenhagen, Denmark, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (2); AnRo0002, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Oceancetaceen - Alice Chodura, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (2).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Adoxa moschatellina Adoxa moschatellina Moschatel Photo: CC BY, Dustin SniderHieracium laevigatum Hieracium laevigatum Smooth hawkweed Photo: CC BY, NMichałowskaFrangula alnus Frangula alnus Glossy buckthorn Photo: CC BY, magnaturalistCarex sylvatica Carex sylvatica Wood-sedge Photo: CC0, author not statedPhalaris arundinacea Phalaris arundinacea Reed Canary grass Photo: CC0, author not statedViburnum opulus Viburnum opulus Guelder rose Photo: CC BY, Alina Bryleva

Other Lactuca 16 in the reference

Lactuca biennis Lactuca biennis Tall blue lettuce Photo: CC BY, Robert StegmannLactuca canadensis Lactuca canadensis Canada lettuce Photo: CC0, author not statedLactuca floridana Lactuca floridana Woodland lettuce Photo: CC0, author not statedLactuca graminifolia Lactuca graminifolia Grass-leaf lettuce Photo: CC BY, Athena PhilipsLactuca hirsuta Lactuca hirsuta Hairy lettuce Photo: CC BY, Quinten WiegersmaLactuca indica Lactuca indica Indian lettuce Photo: CC0, author not statedLactuca perennis Lactuca perennis Mountain lettuce Photo: CC BY-SA, Emanuele SantarelliLactuca plumieri Lactuca plumieri Hairless blue-sow-thistle Photo: CC BY-SA, Luc AudrainLactuca quercina Lactuca quercina Wild lettuce Photo: CC BY, Илья РуденкоLactuca saligna Lactuca saligna Least lettuce Photo: CC BY, Duarte FradeLactuca sativa Lactuca sativa Garden lettuce Photo: CC0, author not statedLactuca serriola Lactuca serriola Prickly lettuce Photo: CC BY, Анна Митрошенкова all 17 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Chondrilla erysimifolia; Chondrilla muralis; Chondrilla ruderalis; Cicerbita muralis; Hieracium mycelis and 15 more. (WCVP, RBG Kew)

IPNIPOWOWikidataWFOWikipedia

The record

Family
Asteraceae
Described by
(L.) Gaertn.
Native to
Denmark, Finland, Great Britain +36
Wild records
424 in range · 103 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
Kew's names (WCVP) kew.names answeredas of 2026-06-04Kew's entry Lactuca muralis (L.) Gaertn. (plant_name_id 3062238), read from Kew's names file
GBIF species record gbif.species not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredasked 2026-10-22this species has no GBIF key of its own; its records are read under GBIF's keys for the names Kew's file holds as this plant, never by a name matched; 900 records of GBIF's key 3139040, Mycelis muralis (L.) Dumort. (Kew's file holds it as Mycelis muralis (L.) Dumort. (synonym under Lactuca muralis (L.) Gaertn.)): GBIF occurrence search API; 61 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (33 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 8 at a herbarium, 20 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 52.00_8.750, lapse-corrected -59 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22found by Kew's IPNI identifier 60439779-2, POWO 60439779-2
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist taxon inat.taxon not asked
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 9 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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