Lettuce: medicinal properties and uses. Is wild lettuce good or bad? Properties of the plant, contraindications and folk recipes Use of wild lettuce

Despite the fact that most of the inhabitants of our country live in cities and metropolises, from the beginning of spring to late autumn we are surrounded by a variety of wild plants. Unfortunately, many of us don’t have time to look at our feet and look around. And yet it is very interesting to know who neighbors us. For example, lettuce...

Compass or wild lettuce - Lactuca serriola L. - a biennial herbaceous plant from the Asteraceae or Compositae family.

Common names: wild lettuce, molokan .

The root system of lettuce is well developed, the taproot extends to a depth sufficient for the plant to survive drought.

Lettuce has a hard, tall - up to 50-150 cm - stem, studded with hard bristles, paniculate-branched at the top, with white milky juice.

The leaves are sessile, notched, pinnately incised, glaucous, with stiff bristles, growing edge-on, pointing their ends to the north and south.

That is why the lettuce was called compass lettuce.

Ligulate, light yellow flowers with a tuft form a basket 2-4 mm in diameter. Each basket contains from 8 to 12 flowers.

Several of these baskets at the very top of the plant are collected into pyramidal panicles.

Compass lettuce blooms in June–August.

The fruit is a gray or brownish achene with a spout and a fly. Round, wide cotyledons with a rounded apex taper towards the petiole.

You can meet it on the banks of rivers, in bushes, in fields, vegetable gardens, orchards and in the city along roadsides, in vacant lots and littered places. Lettuce loves places well lit by the sun.

Compass lettuce, as a weed, harms agricultural crops, so they are actively fighting it in the steppe and forest-steppe zones, trying to prevent lettuce seeds from clogging the seed material. The lettuce is mowed and weeded out without allowing its seeds to ripen.

Compass lettuce, despite its toxicity, has long been used in folk medicine.

For medicinal purposes, during the flowering period, that is, from June to August-September, leaves, stems, and flowers are harvested.

The milky sap of the plant is also used.

Compass lettuce contains alkaloids, resins, and bitterness.

In turn, lactucerin, lactucin, lactucictin, alkaloids and other substances were found in the bitterness of the plant.

Compass lettuce has sedative, hypnotic, anticonvulsant, diuretic and laxative properties.

Preparations from it are prescribed for convulsions, shortness of breath, chronic bronchitis, severe cough, whooping cough, catarrh, rheumatism, gout, and bladder diseases.

Infusion. 1 teaspoon of dry crushed raw materials is poured with 2 cups of boiling water, left for 2-4 hours, filtered without squeezing, taken 3 times a day, 1 tbsp. spoon.

The resin obtained from the milky juice - lactucarium - has an unpleasant odor and bitter taste; it is taken orally in minimal doses for dropsy and respiratory diseases.

Lactucary, dissolved in alcohol, is added to tea for insomnia, stomach cramps, and rheumatic pain.

Due to its toxicity, infusions and decoctions of compass lettuce can only be taken internally under the guidance of an experienced herbalist.

Dried and powdered leaves of compass lettuce are sprinkled on wounds for rapid healing.

In Central Asia and some European countries, wild lettuce is used as an edible plant. After all, wild lettuce is the direct ancestor of lettuce or “lettuce”, which they love to eat in Russia.

Lettuce or garden lettuce - Lactuca sativa L. - cultivated in gardens as a vegetable plant.

This annual herbaceous plant has a bluish branched stem and can reach 1 meter in height.

Often its rounded wavy leaves with white milky juice curl into heads of cabbage.

Yellow flower baskets with reed flowers, just like those of wild lettuce, are collected in a panicle.

Garden lettuce blooms in June-July.

The fruit is a ribbed oblong achene with a tuft.

Lettuce is considered one of the oldest lettuces cultivated by humans. It was grown at the court of the Persian kings. It was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Hippocrates mentioned lettuce.

The ancient Greeks and Romans not only used its young leaves daily for salads, soups and sauces, but also for ritual purposes.

Oil is made from lettuce seeds and used as food.

And young, peeled leaves are eaten raw.

Garden lettuce also has healing properties.

It is used as a vitamin, antiscorbutic, analgesic, sedative, and diuretic.

Lettuce removes harmful cholesterol from the body and improves digestion.

It is prescribed to prevent atherosclerosis; Its regular consumption reduces high blood pressure and promotes scarring of stomach ulcers.

For anemia, hypertension, neurasthenia, insomnia, an infusion of lettuce leaves is prepared:

1 tbsp. pour a spoonful of crushed raw materials into 1 cup of boiling water and leave for 1 hour. Strain, take 1 tbsp. spoon 3 times a day.

Freshly squeezed lettuce juice is taken 15 drops three times a day for heart disease, angina pectoris and as a nerve sedative.

Lettuce is used in cosmetics to give the skin freshness and elasticity.

Grind a handful of lettuce leaves into a puree, add 1 egg yolk and 1 teaspoon olive oil.

Apply to facial skin for 10-15 minutes. Rinse with warm water, then rinse your face with cool water.

To ensure that love never ends, you need to decorate the heads of lovers with wreaths of lettuce leaves and meet the dawn, holding hands.

It is believed that the more often you put lettuce salad on the table, the stronger and brighter the marital relationship will be.

And eating lettuce helps children grow smart and healthy.

Compass lettuce is a biennial herbaceous plant of the Asteraceae family, with white milky sap. Poisonous. Contains white poisonous milky juice, which includes bitters (lactucerin, lactucin, lactucintin), alkaloids, resins, etc.

The stem of the plant is hard, covered with stiff bristles. The leaves are sessile, without a petiole, the lower ones are larger, pinnately cut. This type of lettuce is characterized by the presence of stiff bristles along the midrib of the leaf. The leaves are arranged on an edge in relation to the stem and their ends point north and south, which is why the name of the plant comes from: compass lettuce. Its flower baskets are small, light yellow, collected in a pyramidal panicle. The height of the plant is about a meter. In appearance, compass lettuce vaguely resembles the common noxious weed field sow thistle. The plant blooms for a long time, from June to September, and at this time its grass is harvested.

Compass lettuce is widespread in the southern and middle regions of the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, the south of Western Siberia, and Central Asia. It prefers to grow in vegetable gardens, fields, roadsides, and river banks. The herb (stem, leaves, flowers) is used for medicinal purposes.

In folk medicine, the use of compass lettuce as a healing agent is quite common. The plant dulls pain sensitivity, stops convulsions, and has sedative, hypnotic, diuretic and laxative properties. More often, lettuce is used in the form of an infusion as an analgesic and sedative for chronic bronchitis, whooping cough, persistent cough, shortness of breath, insomnia, as well as for bladder diseases and dropsy. There is information about the use of compass lettuce in the treatment of gout.

In Central Asia, an infusion of lettuce herb is drunk as a cooling agent, and powder from the leaves is sprinkled on wounds that take a long time to heal. Dry the lettuce leaves well, grind them thoroughly in your hands, and sift through a sieve to obtain a powder. Make either powder for wounds or bandages (a damp cloth is sprinkled with powder, applied to the sore spot and fixed),

Internal use of compass lettuce, as a poisonous plant, requires great caution. For headaches, it is necessary to take lettuce infusion many times - 1 tbsp. spoon 5-6 times a day. To use the same infusion as a laxative, it is advisable to increase the intake to 2 tbsp. spoons 3 times a day. If you use lettuce infusion to improve sleep, then in this case you need to prepare it less concentrated (0.5 teaspoon of herb per 1 cup of boiling water).

Lettuce can also be used as a heart remedy. In this case, it is better to prepare the infusion with oregano. To do this, you need to take 1 teaspoon of oregano, add 0.5 teaspoon of lettuce, brew with 1 glass of boiling water, leave for 1 hour, strain. Take 1 tbsp. spoon 3 times a day after meals.

When treating kidney diseases, take lettuce infusions in even lower concentrations - 0.5 teaspoon per 2 cups of boiling water. To increase the effectiveness of treatment, you can add 1 teaspoon of crushed lingonberry leaves. The use of dried lettuce juice deserves special attention. In this case, 1 coffee spoon of crushed raw materials should be dissolved in 500 ml of boiled water and taken 2 tbsp for headaches and insomnia. spoons 3 times a day after meals. Some healers claim that it is permissible to prepare lettuce infusions in a “cold” way, that is, in cold (room temperature) water.

is one of the plants of the family called Asteraceae or Compositae, in Latin the name of this plant will be as follows: Lactuca scariola L. As for the name of the wild lettuce family itself, in Latin it will be like this: Asteraceae Dumort. (Compositae Giseke).

Description of wild lettuce

Wild lettuce is a biennial herbaceous plant, endowed with white milky juice, the height of which will be about sixty to one hundred and fifty centimeters. This plant will be endowed with a tap root and a rather dense, furrowed stem, colored in whitish or yellowish tones. The leaves of wild lettuce are sessile, the lower and middle ones are lyre-pinnately dissected, and their lobes will be curved back. Along the midrib of the leaves of this plant there are peculiar hard spines. The leaves are arranged edgewise, and their ends will point north and south. The flowers of wild lettuce are small and ligulate, they are endowed with pubescence in the form of a tuft and form small baskets, which in turn are collected in a pyramidal paniculate inflorescence. The fruits of wild lettuce are brownish achenes endowed with volatiles.
This plant blooms from July to August. Under natural conditions, this plant is found in Ukraine, Belarus, the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the south of Western Siberia. For growth, this plant prefers places near housing and roads, vegetable gardens, fields, weedy places and places among bushes.

Description of the medicinal properties of wild lettuce

It should be noted that wild lettuce contains poisonous milky white juice, which in turn contains lactucin, bitterness, alkaloids, resins, lactucyrin and lactucycline.
As for traditional medicine, a water decoction prepared from the wild lettuce herb is quite widespread here. In addition, a resin obtained from the milky sap of this plant is also used. Such drugs are used as sedatives and painkillers, and are also used for whooping cough, bronchial asthma, laryngitis, chronic bronchitis, shortness of breath, persistent cough and insomnia. Also, this healing agent is used as a diuretic for various diseases of the bladder, gout and dropsy. It should be noted that wild lettuce is sometimes used in homeopathy.
An infusion prepared from the wild lettuce herb is recommended for use as a gargle for various throat diseases, gingivitis, abrasions, stomatitis and bleeding gums. In addition, in folk medicine, crushed leaves of wild lettuce are applied to wounds and cuts to speed up their healing, while the boiled herb of this plant should be applied to the throat for a variety of colds.
To prepare an infusion based on this plant, you will need to take one teaspoon of dry crushed wild lettuce, which is placed in two glasses of boiling water for four hours. After this, such a healing mixture should be filtered very carefully. Take the resulting medicinal product based on wild lettuce three times a day before meals, one tablespoon.
The resins of the milky juice of this plant are used in one third of a gram. However, we should not forget that the incorrect use of such a healing agent can cause poisoning, which will be accompanied not only by vomiting and nausea, but also by confusion. Therefore, it is so important not to exceed the recommended dosage in any case.

Quarantine organism

Classification

Family: Asteraceae, Compositae

Genus: Lettuce (Lactuca)

Biological classification

biennial

Definition

Compass lettuce– an annual, less often biennial, wintering weed, up to 140 cm high. The plant is poisonous. The stem is straight. The leaves are notched, pinnately divided at the bottom of the stem and entire at the top. The root system consists of a tap root and lateral branches. Bisexual yellow reed flowers are collected in baskets, forming an apical corymbose-paniculate inflorescence. The fruit is an achene. It begins to bloom in July and bears fruit starting in August. Distributed in Europe, Siberia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and North Africa. (Bobrov E.G., 1964) (Trukhachev V.I., 2006) (Gubanov I.A., 2004)

Morphology

Weed seedlings contain milky sap. The petioles of all leaves and the edges of the leaf blades are covered with small glandular hairs. The epicotyledonous portion of the stem is poorly developed, its height is approximately 2–3 mm. Subcotyledon area – 8 – 10 mm. The second internode extends 7–8 mm simultaneously with the emergence of the third leaf. The cotyledons are broadly oval, the apices are rounded, with small notches. Dimensions: 10 – 12 x 6 – 7 mm. The length of the petiole of the cotyledon is not more than 5 mm.

The first leaves are alternate. The shape of the first leaf is oblong, obovate or oblong. The edge is vaguely angular. The top is rounded. The lower part gradually turns into a petiole. Dimensions of the first sheet: 20 – 25 x 10 – 12 mm. The second leaf is similar to the first, but larger, with a wavy edge with vaguely defined teeth. The third is oblong. The edge is notched-toothed. The petiole is narrow-winged with small teeth. (Vasilchenko I.T., 1965)

The leaves of adult plants are oblong, most often pinnately lobed, with two to four pairs of serrated lobes, less often entire, semi-stem-encompassing, with ears. The leaf blades are arranged vertically. The stem is furrowed, erect, yellowish or whitish, evenly leafy. Height 30 – 140 cm. The stem and leaves in the lower part of the main vein are covered with hard yellowish bristles. The baskets are multi-flowered, small, forming an apical inflorescence of corymbose-paniculate shape. The flowers in the basket are bisexual, ligulate, yellow. (Gubanov I.A., 2004)

The fruit is an obovate, wedge-shaped, flattened six- to eight-costed achene with an achene. The apex of the achene widens slightly and turns into a thin column, equal in length to the achene, thickened at the end. The fly falls off easily and consists of long, slightly jagged hairs. The achene is matte, slightly wrinkled, greenish-brown or gray-green in color with dark spots. Achene dimensions: 3 – 3.25 x 1 – 1.25 x 0.3 – 0.5 mm. Weight of 1000 seeds - 1.25 g. (Dobrokhotov V.N., 1961)

The root system consists of a vertical rhizome and long horizontal roots that produce suckers. (Gubanov I.A., 2004)

Biology and development

Compass lettuce– annual or biennial, wintering plant. Dies off in the second year after fruiting. Spreads by seeds. (Keller B.A., 1935)

Shoots appear in spring, from March to May or in autumn. The minimum germination temperature of achenes is + 2°C - + 4°C, the optimal temperature is +18°C - +20°C, the maximum is +34°C - + 36°C. In southern regions, seedlings can overwinter. Achenes germinate from the soil surface or no deeper than 5 cm. Freshly ripened achenes have high germination rate. (Fisyunov A.V., 1984)

Compass lettuce blooms from July to late autumn and bears fruit from August. The maximum established fertility of one plant is 52,700 achenes (Fisyunov A.V., 1984)

Spreading

Habitat in nature

Compass lettuce– a ruderal plant of weedy places, along roads, near housing, in fallow lands, in vegetable gardens, orchards, vineyards, and grain crops. (Nikitin V.V., 1983)

Geographical distribution

Compass lettuce distributed throughout Europe, except for the northern regions, in the Caucasus, southern Siberia, all regions of Central Asia, and North Africa. (Nikitin V.V., 1983) (Keller B.A., 1935)

Maliciousness

Compass lettuce– a dangerous weed plant that infests garden crops, orchards, vineyards, crops of perennial grasses, grain crops, usually winter rye and barley. The weed has a complex negative impact on cultivated plants. Moderate and severe contamination has a negative impact on the quantitative and qualitative indicators of yield. (Masterov A.S., 2014)

Subordinate unit pesticides against

Chemical pesticides.

Wild lettuce (compass)- a biennial herbaceous plant 60–150 cm high, with a vertical rhizome, from which long horizontal roots extend. The stem is erect, green, with a whitish coating, hard, covered with stiff bristles. The leaves are sessile, notched-pinnately cut, along the midrib with characteristic hard bristles or even spines. All parts of the plant contain milky sap.

Counts, that by the leaves of lettuce you can determine the cardinal directions - as if in sunny weather the leaf blade is turned with one side to the west, the other to the east, and the edges of the blade look south and north, which is what one of the names of the plant is associated with - compass lettuce. The flowers are ligulate, pubescent. Baskets of yellow flowers are collected in a sparse, paniculate inflorescence. Blooms from June to September. The fruit is an achene, black, with a long white spout and a fly.

Widely spread almost all over the world. Its homeland is considered to be Asia Minor and Central Asia. Today it grows naturally in Western and Southern Europe, Western Siberia to Altai, Central Asia, the Caucasus, in vegetable gardens and orchards, along roads, near homes, and is found as an alien plant in North Africa, the Middle East, and North America. It grows in weedy places, in vegetable gardens, along river banks, along roads. It is the wild ancestor of cultivated varieties of lettuce. The widely known garden lettuce belongs to the lettuce genus.

Popular names of the plant are molokan, spurge, wild lettuce, hare goat. The Latin name is related to lac, lactis - milk, after the milky juice contained in all parts of the plant.

In medicine, the herb (stems, leaves, flowers) and the milky juice of the plant, which are collected during flowering, are used. The juice contains bitters, lactucin, lactucyrin, lactucycline, morphine-like alkaloids, enzymes, resins and other substances. Lettuce grass contains traces of cesmarines, and the roots contain saponins. The plant is poisonous.

In folk medicine They use an aqueous infusion of the herb and lactucaria resin obtained from the milky juice, which has a bitter taste and unpleasant odor. The plant dulls pain sensitivity, stops convulsions and has a calming, hypnotic, laxative and diuretic effect, and is used for neuroses and neurasthenia.

In modern homeopathy and folk medicine, infusions of the herb and lactucaria are used in small doses as an analgesic and sedative for chronic bronchitis, whooping cough, laryngitis, bronchial asthma, persistent cough, shortness of breath, insomnia and as a diuretic for bladder diseases, dropsy and gout.

An infusion of wild lettuce herb is also used for gargling for throat diseases (sore throat), bleeding gums, gingivitis, stomatitis, and abrasions. Traditional medicine recommends applying crushed leaves to cuts and wounds to speed up their healing, and boiled herbs to the throat for colds.

In Central Asia, an infusion of the herb is drunk as a cooling drink, and the leaf powder is sprinkled on wounds for rapid healing.

It must be remembered that careless dosing of lactucaria and wild lettuce herb infusion can cause poisoning, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, confusion, and hallucinations. Self-consumption of the plant is unacceptable.