How to Identify Wild Lettuce (and distinguish from common lookalikes)

READ ME: Since making this video, I have encountered some specimens of Canadian Wild Lettuce (Lactuca canadensis) in the bolted stage with no hairs on their midribs whatsoever. If this is the case, another characteristic you can use is the shape of the midrib. Wild lettuce midribs should have a triangular cross-section! You can read more about this in my wild lettuce ID article - This is where we buy wild lettuce products from - - use code “feral“ for 10% off your order! Wild lettuce (Lactuca) has several prominent historical medicinal uses in addition to being edible! Many people seek this plant out in order to use it for medicinal purposes today. In order to accomplish this safely, we need to be able to positively identify wild lettuce. This video explores the characteristics of wild lettuce and the specific details to distinguish it from close lookalikes. By the end, I hope you will have much better confidence in how to identify wild lettuce! The two species that are covered in this video are Canadian Wild Lettuce (Lactuca canadensis) and Prickly Lettuce or Wild “Opium“ Lettuce (Lactuca serriola). However, the ID principles generally apply across the genus. The three other plants that we’ll observe and compare it to are - Common Dandelion (Taraxacum offinicale), Sow Thistle (Sonchus), and Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans). I hope you will find it helpful and be able to identify wild lettuce in the wild! (Lactuca virosa shot from strictly medicinal, also a place to buy seeds! - ) Article on my website with a link to a video on how to process the lettuce into the concentrated extract shown in the video! - TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Premise 0:20 - Introduction 1:17 - Wild Lettuce Details 2:39 - The Key Distinguishing Detail 3:24 - Comparing to Dandelion 4:02 - Comparing to Sow Thistle 4:40 - Comparing to True Thistle 5:07 - Wrapping Up 5:21 - Closing Thoughts 🌲 Hope you find the video helpful. Be Feral and Keep Foraging! --- Join my foraging discord group for ID help and good foraging discussion! - --- ✉️ Business Inquiries - info@ --- 📧 Sign up for my mailing list to learn about wild food and herbs! --- 🌼 My Wildflower Field Guide - 🌿 The BEST Botany book - 🌰 My Favorite Foraging Series - 🌳 My Eastern Tree Fieldguide - 🍄 A Good Eastern Mushrooms Fieldguide - 📜 What I use for captioning - 🎵 Where I get all my music - (Epidemic Sound Affiliate ) /// FOLLOW: Facebook - Instagram - Website - Foraging Club - Affiliate Disclosure: Feral Foraging is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to []() and affiliated sites. #wildlettuce #foraging #lactuca