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NAME:  Wild Lettuce

SPECIES / FAMILY:  Lactuca Canadensis / Asteraceae or Compositae

OTHER COMMON NAME(S):  Canada Lettuce

CONDITIONS: partial shade
 

PARTS:	EDIBLE	TASTE	RAW/COOK	SEASON
All
Shoots
Leaves	young	bitter	COOK	Spring
Buds/Flowers
Fruits
Roots
Seeds
Nuts
Pods
Stalk/Stem	young	bitter	COOK	Spring
Bark

 

PORTION: small

 

COMMENT:  If you are allergic to latex & dandelions, then avoid this plant. Preparation, “Young leaves in salads, tend to be bitter, older leaves boiled for 10/15 minutes.”(2)

 

CAUTION: Wild lettuce is very bitter and contains latex, to which some people are allergic, from slightly to severely. “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 forms of lettuce but is produced when the plant starts to go to seed.” (1) Opium substitute, inhaling can cause hallucinogenic effects, etc.(1)

 

NUTRITION/MEDICINAL:  Analgesic;  Diuretic;  Hypnotic;  Nervine;  Sedative;  Warts. (1)
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-342/wild-lettuce 

 

How to make Wild Lettuce Tea to minimize pain: https://www.thelostways.com/vsl/index.php?hop=marine20

 

LOOK-A-LIKES:  

 

POISONOUS LOOK-A-LIKES: 

 

OTHER USES:

 

SOURCE LINKS (may include nutritional and medicinal info, plus other uses):

1. https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Lactuca+canadensis

2. http://www.eattheweeds.com/lactuca-floridana-let-us-eat-wild-lettuce-2   
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactuca_canadensis
4. http://www.foragingtexas.com/2005/07/wild-lettuce.html  (good photos)
5. https://extension.umass.edu/landscape/weeds/lactuca-canadensis