Wall Lettuce!! Why?? Every Spring, I start to see many plants that grow initially just like Dandelion, fringy leaves, basal rosette as it emerges, green, early, weedy habits. It would seem that each year I get nipplewort and wall lettuce swapped in my mind. So, perhaps this post is for you, but maybe it’s just for me. Maybe in writing it down, I won’t get the two swapped around next year! There’s always hope! If your area of the world has a plant called Wall Lettuce, know that in this case I am referring to the plant known by these scientific names: Cicerbita muralis , Lactuca muralis, Mycelis muralis, Prenanthes muralis, Phaenopus muralis

This plant species grouping is also commonly referred to additionally as “Mural Lettuce,” or “Lettuce Wall” due to their tendency to grow in walls and rocky areas. Make sure you call this plant by its scientific name if you want to be specific, as in some places Milk Thistle is called Wall Lettuce. They are totally different! In the PNW Wall Lettuce is considered invasive, though not on the noxious weed list at this point. It’s just being monitored. I had hoped it had more use, as then it’s even more fun to pull it. No such luck!

For today’s purposes, our weedy Wall Lettuce (not Milk Thistle) is a species belonging to the family Asteraceae, which includes many other plants commonly known as lettuces, such as Lactuca sativa, the familiar garden lettuce that is widely cultivated for food and is a good source of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin K, vitamin A, folate, and iron.

As to Wall Lettuce’s potential benefits to humans, I couldn’t find any specific information on the medicinal properties or nutritional value of these particular species of Wall Lettuce. Also, though it is edible, it is bitter and undesirable to my palate. I assume there will be someone out there who loves it, but it just isn’t for me. Let me know if you have found something that you like to do with it. Maybe you just watch it stretch for the sun, produce its tiny yellow flowers and then floof its seeds out onto the world. Maybe.

https://amzn.to/3AKaAD4 – Perhaps we should all just grow Lactuca sativa instead and eat lettuce that actually tastes good! 😉