Tag: opium lettuce

  Common Name: Wild lettuce, Opium lettuce, Bitter lettuce, Prickly lettuce Species: Lactuca Virosa Family: Astareaceae   Lactuca virosa is a biennial tall plant with a pale green central stalk, sometimes spotted with purple. The numerous, large, radical leaves are obovate-oblong, stem leaves are small and alternate,  heads are numerous and shortly-stalked, while flowers are pale-yellow. The whole plant is rich in a milky latex that flows freely from any laceration. This latex has a bitter taste and narcotic smell. When its latex is collected, dries and hardens turning brown, and is…