Lactuca serriola
| Lactuca serriola | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 7 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Life Cycle: | Biennial |
| Height: | 5' |
| Width: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Early Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Lactuca serriola (common name: prickly lettuce)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in situ and only just cover the seed. Germination is usually fairly quick.
Cultivation: Prefers a light sandy loam in a sunny position[1][2].
The wild lettuce is cultivated for the oil in its seed in Egypt[3][4].
A compass plant, the top leaves align north-south[5].
Range: S. and C. Europe, incl Britain, from the Netherlands south and east to N. Africa and the Himalayas.
Habitat: Waste places, walls, occasionally on more or less stable dunes[6].
Edibility: Young leaves - raw or cooked[2][7][8]. A bitter flavour[9]. The young tender leaves are mild and make an excellent salad[10][11], but the whole plant becomes bitter as it gets older, especially when coming into flower[K]. As a potherb it needs very little cooking[10]. Large quantities can cause digestive upsets[8].
Young shoots - cooked. Used as an asparagus substitute[2].
An edible oil is obtained from the seed[3][4][12]. The oil must be refined before it is edible[13]. A pleasant flavour[13][10].
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[14]. The sap contains 'lactucarium', which is used in medicine for its anodyne, antispasmodic, digestive, diuretic, hypnotic, narcotic and sedative properties[15][16][3][17][18][19][20]. Lactucarium has the effects of a feeble opium, but without its tendency to cause digestive upsets[14], 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[14]. This species does not contain as much lactucarium as L. virosa[14]. An infusion of the fresh or dried flowering plant can also be used[15].
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][15].
The fixed oil from the seeds is said to possess antipyretic and hypnotic properties[22].
A homeopathic remedy is made from the plant[15]. It is used in the treatment of chronic catarrh, coughs, swollen liver, flatulence and ailments of the urinary tract[15].
Usage: The seed contains 35.2% of a semi-drying oil[22]. It is used in soap making, paints, varnishes etc[13].
Pollinators: Self
Habit: Biennial
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Late Summer-Early Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Known Hazards: The mature plant is mildly toxic[2].
Also Known As: L. scariola.
Links
References
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Triska, Jan. Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn, 1975.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Harris, Ben. Eat the Weeds. Pivot Health, 1973.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Elias, Thomas. A Field Guide to North American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1982.
- ↑ Harrington, Harold. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press, 1967.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Les Ecologistes de l'Euzière. Les Salades Sauvages. 1994.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Chakravarty, Hiralal. The Plant Wealth of Iraq. 1976.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 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.
- ↑ Weiner, Michael. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books, 1980.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Chopra, R. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1986.