this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2025
1502 points (100.0% liked)

Science Memes

15785 readers
2052 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

More powerful AI says:

No, not all lettuces are the same species, although many commonly consumed lettuces (e.g., iceberg, romaine, butterhead, oakleaf, and leaf lettuce) belong to the same species, Lactuca sativa.

However, some plants commonly called "lettuce" belong to different species or even genera. Examples include:

Lactuca sativa: The typical garden lettuce varieties (iceberg, romaine, butterhead, oakleaf, loose-leaf lettuces).

Lactuca serriola: Wild lettuce, an ancestor to cultivated lettuce.

Valerianella locusta: Corn salad or lamb's lettuce, commonly consumed as lettuce but from a different genus.

Cichorium endivia: Endive, sometimes called lettuce but technically not in the lettuce genus (Lactuca).

Eruca vesicaria (Arugula or rocket): Often mixed with lettuces but belongs to an entirely different genus and family.

In summary, while most common lettuces belong to a single species (Lactuca sativa), not everything commonly called lettuce or used similarly in salads is botanically the same species or even genus.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Are those actually considered lettuces, though? It's most likely a cultural thing but none of those are lettuces over here. As in, calling them lettuce would be as far fetched as calling spinach lettuce.