About Lactuca pulchella (Pursh) DC.
Lactuca pulchella (Pursh) DC., commonly called blue lettuce, common blue lettuce, or wild blue lettuce, is a North American flowering plant that belongs to the sunflower family Asteraceae. There is ongoing taxonomic disagreement regarding its classification: some authors treat this taxon as a subspecies or variety of a more broadly defined Lactuca tatarica, while other authors recognize that L. tatarica is only found in Europe and Asia, and accept L. pulchella as a distinct species. Additionally, L. pulchella, along with L. tatarica and other related species, is often moved to the separate genus Mulgedium under the name Mulgedium pulchellum. Among the Zuni people of New Mexico, located in the southwestern United States, the dried root gum from Lactuca pulchella has traditionally been used as chewing gum.
