Lactuca indica
Lactuca indica
Safety & Hazards
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 (Lactuca sativa), but is still produced when the plant starts to go to seed[ 13 Title Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Publication Author Triska. Dr. Publisher Hamlyn Year 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3 Description Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore. ].
Botanical Description
Lactuca indica is an erect, perennial plant forming a rosette of basal leaves and a rarely-branched stem up to 120cm tall from a taproot. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a medicine. It is sometimes cultivated for its edible leaves in parts of Asia, especially Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan[ 183 Title Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Publication Author Facciola. S. Publisher Kampong Publications Year 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 Description Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world. , 200 Title The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. Publication Author Huxley. A. Publisher MacMillan Press Year 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5 Description Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed. , 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ], and the leaves are sometimes sold in local food markets[ 1665 Title Wild Food Plants in South Korea; Market Presence, New Crops, and Exports to the United States Publication Economic Botany, Vol. 50, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1996), pp. 57-70 Author Pemberton R.W. & Nam Sook Lee Website http://www.jstor.org/stable/4255805 Publisher Year 1996 ISBN Description ]..