Wild lettuce Herbal Information

NAME
Wild lettuce


LATIN NAME
Lactuca Virosa

ALSO KNOWN AS
Bitter lettuce, Laitue vireuse, Opium Lettuce, Poisonous Lettuce, or Rakutu-Karyumu-So.

ORIGIN
Europe

PARTS USED
Dried leaves


TRADITIONAL HERBAL USES AND MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF WILD LETTUCE
Wild lettuce is a natural sedative, it is very good for an over-excited nervous system. It is particually good for hyperactive children, and can be of considerable help with symptoms of over-excitement or inability to sleep.
Wild lettuce is known as "lettuce opium" it is also helpful for adults who suffer from insomnia, restlessness, anxiety or neurosis.
Wild lettuce can be combined well with Valerian as a sleepwell tea.
It's natural tranquilising effects also help the condition of the individual if suffering from whooping cough, or coughs in general. It can also relieve colic type pain, including menstrual pains and rheumatism.



FOLKLORE AND HISTORY OF WILD LETTUCE
Since early ages, wild lettuce has enjoyed a special status as a beneficial therapeutic plant and was treasured as a tranquilizer and pain killer. The herb valued so much that during the 19th century people used it as a substitute for opium! The story goes that Roman emperor Augustus supposedly constructed a statue of a physician who had recommended lettuce to treat him of a serious ailment. While it is not comprehensible which variety of lettuce cured the emperor, it is believed that the herb was wild lettuce.


CONSTITUENTS OF WILD LETTUCE
Wild lettuce has been found to contain lactucic acid, lactucopicrin, 50 to 60 per cent lactucerin (lactucone) and lactucin. Lactucarium treated with boiling water and filtered is clear, but on cooling the filtrate becomes turbid. It is not coloured blue by iodine test solution. The usual constituents of latex are albumen, mannite, and caoutchouc.


TYPICAL PREPARATIONS AND DOSAGE OF WILD LETTUCE
Wild Lettuce cut leaves
1-2 teaspoon per cup of hot water up to 3 times a day.
Herbal Tincture
Extraction Ratio 1:3
Alcohol Vol. 45%
2-4ml up to 3 times a day.
or as recommended by a herbal practitioner

PRECAUTIONS
Can cause drowsiness, or if taken in excess can cause restlessness