What is Wild Lettuce?
Wild lettuce typically refers to the more bitter relatives of common garden lettuce. This group of plants has been utilized in various products, including sleep tonics, soaps, and herbal teas.
The most commonly found and easily identifiable species of wild lettuce are Lactuca biennis, Lactuca virosa, Lactuca canadensis, and Lactuca serriola. These lettuces are quite different from normal garden lettuce, Lactuca sativa, as they are too bitter to eat wild species of lettuce have many uses, however. A bitter sap called lettuce opium, or lactucarium, can be found in all lettuce. In the wild species, this sap is much more bitter as it contains has a higher concentration of medicinal alkaloids than garden lettuce.
In the United States, Lactuca virosa is a less commonly variety of wild lettuce, but it is best suited for making extracts. The sap has a very distinct and robust flavor, and is high in alkaloids. The plant itself is a biennial, producing large rosettes in the first season, and can bolt as high as three meters in the flowering stage of the second season. One large plant can produce 80,000 seeds! The plant is tricky to grow as the seeds often remain dormant for years before germinating.
The lore of wild lettuce goes back many thousands of years, even back into prehistory. Our knowledge of human civilization starts to get sparse at around 4000 years BC, but what we know can be traced back to the end of the last ice age. The ice age is kind of like a wall which separates us from prehistory. What remains of prehistory tells us that the ancients had a working knowledge of the us of the stars for keeping time and navigation, with a whole cast of characters populating the zodiac. Prehistoric myths and legends also remain; such as the myth of the great flood, the myth of Moses, and many tales about sky serpents. Religion is born from these roots.
One such god, called Min by the Egyptians, was a fertility god and also the god of magic plants. He is always pictured with stalks of wild lettuce behind him. The Egyptians had an entire festival dedicated to min. It was one of their most important festivals of the year. I won't write too much about it here, because I will write an articles about these subjects in the historical section. Lettuce seed oil is still used to this day in Egypt for traditional medicinal purposes, massage, and cooking.
The ancient Sumerians were also familiar with this god. Tales of Min as well as a hymn dedicated to him can be found on ancient Sumerian scroll cylinders. There is also a site in Turkey called Göbekli Tepe, with a depiction of Min that goes back 12,000 years!
Wild lettuce pops up several times throughout history. Emperor Augustus of Rome was said to have been cured of a mysterious illness by drinking infusions of wild lettuce. Wild lettuce can be found in ancient medicine, as well as an ingredient in magical potions and magical rituals the world over. In the mid-19th century, the trade of Lactucarium gained prominence, as it was commonly used for respiratory issues.
We invite you to check out our site where you can learn all about our favorite plant. We also invite you to CHECK OUT OUR SHOP! We will be posting articles, scientific information, and accounts of our adventures as we search for and grow this plant. We will be slowly stocking our shop, as well as adding new products specially designed the way we have always wanted to make them.
Now that the new site is up and running I will expand this page in the near future.
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