Lactuca canadensis
| Lactuca canadensis | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Life Cycle: | Biennial |
| Height: | 10' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Early Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Lactuca canadensis (common name: canada lettuce)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in situ and only just cover the seed. Germination is usually fairly quick.
Cultivation: Prefers a light sandy loam[1].
Hybridizes in the wild with L. ludoviciana and the two species can sometimes be difficult to separate[2].
Range: Eastern N. America - Nova Scotia to British Columbia, south to Georgia and Colorado.
Habitat: Thickets, woodland borders and clearings[3]. Moist open places[4]. Usually found in sandy soils[2].
Edibility: Young leaves and stems - raw or cooked[5][6][7][8][9][10]. Cooked and eaten as greens[11].
Medicinal: The whole plant is rich in a milky sap that flows freely from any wounds. This hardens and dries when in contact with the air[12]. The sap contains 'lactucarium', which is used in medicine for its anodyne, antispasmodic, digestive, diuretic, hypnotic, narcotic and sedative properties[13][14][5][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Lactucarium has the effects of a feeble opium, but without its tendency to cause digestive upsets[12], nor is it addictive[21]. It is taken internally in the treatment of insomnia, anxiety, neuroses, hyperactivity in children, dry coughs, whooping cough, rheumatic pain etc[20]. Concentrations of lactucarium are low in young plants and most concentrated when the plant comes into flower[20]. It is collected commercially by cutting the heads of the plants and scraping the juice into china vessels several times a day until the plant is exhausted[12]. An infusion of the fresh or dried flowering plant can also be used[13].
The plant should be used with caution, and never without the supervision of a skilled practitioner. Even normal doses can cause drowsiness whilst excess causes restlessness[20] and overdoses can cause death through cardiac paralysis[21][13].
Some physicians believe that any effects of this medicine are caused by the mind of the patient rather than by the medicine[18].
The sap has also been applied externally in the treatment of warts[19].
Pollinators: Insects
Habit: Biennial
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Late Summer-Mid Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Known Hazards: Although no specific mention of toxicity has been seen for this species, many plants in this genus contain a narcotic principle, this is at its most concentrated when the plant begins to flower. This principle has been almost bred out of the cultivated fo
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References
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Diggs, George and Barney Lipscomb. Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas. Botanical Research Institute, 1999.
- ↑ Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
- ↑ Britton, Nathaniel and Addison Brown. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1970.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Harris, Ben. Eat the Weeds. Pivot Health, 1973.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Harrington, Harold. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press, 1967.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Launert, Edmund. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn, 1981.
- ↑ Lust, John. The Herb Book. Bantam Books, 1983.
- ↑ Mills, Simon. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
- ↑ Emboden, William. Narcotic Plants. Studio Vista, 1979.
- ↑ Coffey, Timothy. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File, 1993.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Weiner, Michael. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books, 1980.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Bown, Deni. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, 1995.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Chiej, Roberto. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald, 1984.