Creeping Lettuce

• Plant Type: Perennial herb.
• Color: Yellow
• Flower Dimensions: 0.4 to 0.7 inches in diameter.
• Blooming Season: Spring (April to June).
• Places in Japan with Creeping Lettuce: Very widespread in open mountain slopes, Mount Oyama, Isehara, and Kanagawa.

The creeping lettuce is a flowering plant of the Asteraceae family. It is a widespread species in Japan. Being perennial, this plant grows to 0.2 meters by 0.5 meters.

• The leaf blade of the creeping lettuce measures 5-30+ by 5-30+ mm. It has retrorse teeth near the bases.
• There are 18-29 flowers on the head. The corollaWhat is corolla?A collective term referring to the petals of a flower. is ligulate and yellow.
• The creeping lettuce plants are hermaphroditesWhat is hermaphrodites?Having both male and female reproductive organs. and are pollinated mainly by insects.
• Ixeris stolonifera prefers moist soil and grows well in semi-shade or no shade.
• Ixeris stolonifera is often confused with Ixeris japonica because they almost look the same. However, I. stolonifera has smaller flowers and fruits. Ovate- orbicular leaves are also more in the I. stolonifera species.

Interesting Facts of Creeping Lettuce

• Ixeris stolonifera^[1] means “to bound the ground and comes from this sight“. The stem of the Creeping lettuce reaches out and splits with the ground.
• The Japanese name of Ixeris stolonifera is Jishibari which means “to bound the ground”. This is because the stem of the Creeping lettuce reaches out and splits with the ground.
• Comparative studies^[2] indicate that I. japonica is an auto-hexaploid derived from I. stolonifera. However, the two species have many morphological similarities.
• Researchers discovered that the essential oil of I. stolonifera^[3] has 97 volatile flavor components.
• Many plantsmen considered I. stolonifera^[4] species a noxious weed because it spreads like lightning by stolons and displaces the vegetation.
• A study^[5] indicates that I. stolonifera and I. repens are closely related species based on the chromosomes and karyotype. However, the I. repens is more primitive than I. stolonifera.