Lactuca serriola - Kahu

Lactuca serriola, prickly lettuce

Lactuca serriola, also called prickly lettuce, milk thistle (not to be confused with Silybum marianum, also called milk thistle) compass plant, and scarole, is an annual or biennial plant in the dandelion tribe within the daisy family. It has a slightly fetid odor and is commonly considered a weed of orchards, roadsides and field crops.

Lactuca serriola is known as the compass plant because in the Sun the upper leaves twist round to hold their margins upright.

Description

Lactuca serriola has a spineless reddish stem, containing a milky latex, growing from 30 to 200 cm (12 to 79 in).

The leaves get progressively smaller as they reach its top. They are oblong or lanceolate, often pinnate and (especially for the lower leaves), waxy grey green. Fine spines are present along the veins and leaf edges. The undersides have whitish veins. They emit latex when cut.

The flower heads are 11 to 13 mm (0.43 to 0.51 in) wide, pale yellow, often tinged purple, with 12-20 ray flowers but no disc flowers. The bracts are also often tinged purple. It flowers from July until September. The achenes are grey, tipped with bristles. The pappus is white with equal length hairs.

Uses

• Lactuca serriola can be eaten as a salad, although it has something of a bitter taste. Young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked.
• The Ancient Greeks also believed its pungent juice to be a remedy against eye ulcers and Pythagoreans called the lettuce eunuch because it caused urination and relaxed sexual desire.
• It is used by a growing number of Jews and the Samaritans as the Maror (bitter herb) on Pesach.(Clarification needed)

External Links

• Lactuca serriola-Wikipedia