Leaves (5-)10-25+ × 2-6(-12) cm, usually runcinately to sinuately lobed, bases ± auri-culate, ultimate margins spinulo-denticulate, apices acute to acuminate. Involucres 10-15 mm. Cypselae 4-5 mm; pappi 6-9 mm. 2n = 18 (as Lactuca runcinata).

Flowering year-round. Disturbed sites, roadsides, coastal strands, agricultural lands; 0-5[-1200+] m; introduced; Fla., Tex.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America; introduced also in Old World.

Launaea intybacea is occasionally used for food. It is a very successful r-strategist and is listed as a noxious plant in A Global Compendium of Weeds (R. Randall, http://www.hear.org/gcw/index.html).