Lactuca Floridana early in the season
Lactuca floridana: Let Us Eat Wild Lettuce
Lactuca floridana has blue blossoms
Wild lettuce is not as tame as garden lettuce.
Garden lettuce is one of those nearly flavorless nearly nutritionless affectations of agriculture. Don’t misunderstand me: I like domesticated lettuce. But it is the milquetoast of the lettuce world. It’s genteel. Wild lettuce still has some kick to it. That kick is bitterness, which comes from the latex sap. Thus wild lettuce breaks one of the cardinal rules of foraging: Avoid white sap. It is one of a half dozen or so plants with white sap that is edible in some way. In the case of wild lettuce, boiling. When young the bitterness is less pronounced, and in some species is very mild or missing.
Note veins on leaves and uneven lobes
There are many species of wild lettuce. (See Lettuce Labyrinth) All grow rank as they age, so it is best to harvest them between four and 12 inches high. Woodland Lettuce tends to have lobed leaves on bottom and grassy leaves on top. Look for a V-shaped leaf stem and pure white milky sap. It’s one of my favorite spring time greens, boiled for about 10 minutes and served warm with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Depending on size, I chop them up and eat stems and all.
Lactuca (lak-TOO-ka) is a Latin form of lac, an illusion to the milky sap. Floridana is Latin for of Florida. Some Lactuca, by the way, are diuretic, such as the L. scariola. The dried sap of some of the species, L. virosa, mimics opium but the sap is difficult to collect and it only puts one to sleep, temporarily
Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile
IDENTIFICATION: Plant has milky sap. Tall plant with lobbed green leaves, often powdery gray-green, dandelion-like flower cluster except blue, not yellow. The lactuca changes little in appearance from young to old, only growing larger, with more lobs on the leaves. End lobe on old leaves is arrow shaped. There can be much variation with some Lactuca having straight leaves with out any lobes at all. Look for flowers on many spikes rather than a cluster. The underside of lower leaves usually have a few hairs along the stem.
TIME OF YEAR: Spring time.
ENVIRONMENT: Lawns, fields, vacant lots, waste areas, parks.
METHOD OF PREPARATION: Young leaves in salads, tend to be bitter, older leaves boiled for 10/15 minutes. I like them with olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Also eaten are L. canadensis, L. intybacea, L. scariola and L. muralis.
Any idea about the Vitamin C content of Lactuca muralis? It is very common near the river here in New Zealand–in an area that was mined for gold 1862 and later. Miner’s lettuce is here as well. We are wondering whether wall lettuce was specially brought to combat scurvy that was rife on the gold fields.
Love your website and videos–Rita Teele from the South Island
As a species wild lettuce have almost no vitamin C.
Isn’t this chicory?
No. The leaf stem is shaped differently in chicory, oval vs triangular.
Can you use the roots of wild lettuce for anything?
Not that I’ve heard of.
I’ve been making tons of what I call “dandelion root tea” because when roasted and pulverized and brewed, that is exactly what it tastes like. I can’t find confirmation that anyone else has done this, but before I blog about it, I am trying to do a bit more research, but so far, all I have is first hand experience enjoying it.
In Chinese medicine，the roots are used. Not sure about the wild lettuce，but dandelion roots can be used for skin infection, fever, liver cleansing and lactation. It has antibiotic properties. However, people with hypotension should not consume the plant. Based on what I have read, the roots contain V-A, V-B1,2&6, V-C and many minerals. The recommended method of consuming the roots is brewing it in tea as Lori is doing. Of course, consume it moderately. Like all foods, some people can be allergic to the plant, roots and all. I hope this helps.
I have a few pictures of some plants in my yard I would like to start eating them but lack the knowledge. I live in central/south Florida and it’s nov. 5 2014 . How do I submit photos?
YOu can do it on the Green Deane Forum on the UFO page, unidentified flowering objects.
I planted a roll of wild lettuce, it has now bolted with lots of yellow flowers, is it safe to cook the flowers and blend it up to make a smoothy? I don’t care how it taste, I can drink it by adding honey and protein powder. Is it okay to drink?
Young and tender is better than blossomed and old.
So aside from mild diuretic or opiate effects, all lactuca are safe (if not all tasty) to eat, right?
Yes, but the opiate effects are grandly overstated.
You have to take a lot to get an affect like pot. We are to used to overly potent everything. I have been using 1/2 tsp of dried powder for fibromyalgia pain. Its the whole leaf, dried and powdered, not the sap specifically it calms my pain and anxiety and regulates my sleep. If you want to get high, buy pot or drink a beer. If you want to heal your body, lactuca virosa is fab. Many of my friends find its the only thing that brings a full night sleep. Happy foraging.
Fantastic I have fibromyalgia and I am harvesting this now
I also use a small amount in powdered for either in tea or in a smoke blend to help with chronic pain. Its good stuff.
your “wild lettuce” looks like what we call Chickory here in Pennsylvania. same plant???
now that i’ve read some of the comments, i saw someone’s question about chickory. you responded it was not the same that one has oval stems and the other has something else [i forgot already… short term memory]. so now my question is which is which? maybe i need to dig out my books and stop pestering you. 🙂
Hair on the stem.
Distant relatives. Common names don’t mean much. There are 18 or so “pig weeds” in the U.S.
this lettuce almost looks like dandelion leaves.
Does it look like those leaves???
if not where could I find the seeds so that I would be able to plant som
What’s the difference between the yellow flowers and purple ones you stated? First time hearing purple. Ty
Different colored flowers, different colored sap, similar growth patten but distinctive enough to tell them apart.
Can you eat the purple/blue flowers?
Yes, but they are usually bitter.
Do you know if I can find wild lettuce growing anywhere in the state of Kentucky and if not where would be the closest place I can find it and does that powder that you can buy from the store and the extract the same as if I find my own growing wild
Wild lettuce is very common in Kentucky. If you are looking for Lactuca virosa it is not common anywhere in the United States and it is a very poor pain killer, has no opium characteristics, and at best might help you sleep a little better.
Someone is wrong somehow
No, there is no conflict between my article and the one on Wikipathetica. (Links to it are not allowed on this site because it is woefully inaccurate regarding wild edibles.) It says Lactuca virosa is “documented in North America.” Yes, but it does not tell you that is about half a dozen counties. As for medicinal qualities L. virosa was well-researched as long ago as the 1930s and was found to be not as good as aspirin. Consider this: It is so good as a medicinal it is not illegal anywhere on earth either where it grows or where it is shipped to.
Yes… all over the place.
Is this available in grocery stores? Where do you get the dried powder? I appreciate any help. I have fibromyalgia, frozen shoulder, bursitis, tendonitis..PAIN IS REAL
Lettuce is not a good pain reliever. The research on that is conclusive. The internet recently has bee hyping nonsense about it being a pain reliever.
Thank you, Green Dean – LOL, how many times you have to fight the same false claims even on this very thread! I do the same, on other fora. We will grow blue in the face, like the flowers of Lactuca floridana (you say blue, they say purple😅)!
People like ‘Gnome’ above seem to benefit, though – their body so receptive that they can get relief from fibromyalgia from half a tsp of dried leaf – interesting! L virosa must be very different from the prickly lettuce (yellow-flowered) that i sometimes eat, boiled.
I take Devils claw works good for me.
Dear Green Deane,
Your website is a fantastic gift to the world, and I can’t thank you enough for creating it! I’ve learned so many wonderful things from reading your work and I am so thankful to you for your teachings. I made a blog post about how I learned that many garden plants I previously considered weeds are actually useful. Hurray! If you would like to see the post I wrote that features your website, here it is:
https://www.alohafarms.net/2016/01/09/you-can-get-volunteers-to-grow-free-food-in-your-garden/
Sending prayers for every good thing to come your way.
Aloha!
Not sure if it’s in my yard, I picked a leaf off what I thought was some, rolled it up and dipped it in salad dressing and ate it. No bitter taste at all. Maybe it was a dandelion. Hope I don’t poison myself trying stuff in the yard.
What types of this wild lettuce grow in California and where? Thanks for the help
I’m in Chipley, Washington Co, above Bay and I am staring at one growing in my flower bed (thanks to local birds).
I have two different plants growing in my yard and think they are wild lettuce please email me so i can send photos to see if they are in fact wild lettuce thank you
Email then to GreenDeane@gmail.com
Does this grow in northern wis? I live on the michigan/wisconsin border.
There are wild Lactuca in your area.
Having just learned about Lactuca this spring, I’ve been seeing it all over the place, and many right in my yard (Most likely L. serriola). Does this mean that since they are biennial that I won’t be seeing them in the same places next year, or will some have likely seeded from their parents for next year, etc.
BTW I’m in northern Connecticut.
Hi, I’m so glad I found this!!! I had what looked like wild lettuce growing along our property. (probably 100 or more) But it did not have yellow flowers. They were 6 and 7 feet tall and had purplish-blue flowers and turned into little puff balls (like dandelion), milky sap, and sharp lobed leaves (also similar to a dandelion). Unfortunately I could not find anything about any of them having blue flowers until now. Now I know I can harvest it safely!!!! Thanks so much!
Could you please tell me if this grows in west central Florida ? I think ive seen it in alot of places. thank you for sharing this !
Yes, it does.
May 10th 2019 and the wild lettuce is about 12 to 15 inches tall hear in western New York. I’ve been working in the forest recently and i’m quite sore when i’m finished at the end of the day. Is it too soon to chew on the leaves of wild lettuce for pain relief and what about the roots?. Can the roots be eaten or chewed on.
mark
Where can I buy the plants or get seeds – I live in Englewood fl, on the gulf coast.
So, I have this tall skinny REDish tinted plant in my garden, that sortof looks like a lettace, but its stem is purple/red, and each leaf has 5 lobes like a lettace? They are not alternating, but attached widely, as if the entire thing is one leaf, but has thin parts in between the lobes. it is about 4 feet tall at the moment, and doesn’t have any hair or anything on the underneath side. Do you know what this is? I can’t find any pictures of it, but it seems to be like a red lettace. it has a milky substance, but no hairy stem, but it is soft and kind of greyish/purple. I didn’t see it flower and now it just has little oblong seeds sticking up.
I have “weeds” that seem to be wild lettuce, maybe L virosa, which my father said was “sow thistle”.
There are no thistles on it, just a metre-high ,skinny plant that oozes white sap when broken.
My cousin bought a farm plagued with it, and it took 4 years to eradicate it. Appreciate your response.
Do you know about the lactucarium content and pain relieving properties of fresh florida lettuce as compared to L. serriola or L. virosa or L. canadensis?
Yes, next to none. Even L. virosa is poor. An aspirin is more efficacious.
I have so many of these wild lettuce growing on my property got some soaking in my sink now later I will dry it n chop it up for tea thank you for your website I learned so much from you keep up the good work mother earth needs you
Can u get high off wild lettuce
No. That is internet nonsense.