Wild Lettuce vs Dandelion – What’s the Difference between Dandelions and Wild Lettuce?
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There are some Dandelion look alikes to look out for when you’re foraging for Dandelion. For example, there’s Wild Lettuce, Hawkbit, and several Cat’s Ears species. It’s really important to know you’re foraging for the right plants, and to know what’s the difference between Dandelion and Wild Lettuce. Let’s compare Wild Lettuce vs Dandelion!
Dandelion Identification
Taraxacum officinale –
Dandelion Leaves
Dandelion is a perennial plant with bright green leaves to 30cm long. The name “Dandelion” comes from the French “dent de lion”, meaning lion’s tooth. This name refers to the ‘teeth’ on Dandelions’ leaves. They’re not sharp, but they are indented, jagged edges.
Taraxacum comes from the Greek taraxos (disorder) and akos (remedy). It may also come from the Persian “tark hashgun”, meaning Wild Endive. The name ‘officinale’ indicates that Dandelion was officially listed as a medicinal herb. It was listed in the US National Formulary until 1965, and dried Dandelion root is listed in the US Pharmacopeia.
Dandelion Flowers and Seeds
Flowers stems are up to 30cm tall. One of Dandelion’s most identifiable features is that it has only ONE yellow daisy flower per stem.
Flowers mature into a puffball seed head. The seed head is well-known for a lot of fun – blowing the seeds! Dandelion flowers throughout the year, almost continuously. Most profuse flowering occurs in May and June.
The seeds are like little fluffy parachutes, easily carried by the wind. This is how Dandelion propagates in nature.
You can propagate them the same way in the garden! Grab a puffball seed head, take it to your garden, and blow. The Dandelion seeds will sprout where they see fit, growing beautiful, strong plants.
Dandelion flowers are very responsive to weather conditions. On a nice sunny day, the flower will be fully outstretched. However, on a rainy day, the whole flower closes up. It performs the same action for night time.
Eating Dandelion for Humans and Animals
Dandelions are valuable food for humans animals. Many birds love Dandelion seeds, and pigs and goats will happily forage on it. Sheep and cattle might not like it very much, nor do horses. Rabbits love to eat Dandelion though, and it’s well-worth growing it for feeding your rabbits.
Humans can add young leaves (mature leaves are very bitter) to salads and juices. Use Dandelion like lettuce on a sandwich, in stews, curries, and stir-fries. Dandelion seeds can be used for the same purposes. Young leaves taste similar to endive or spinach and can be used in the same way.
Dandelion beer is a fermented drink, common in many parts of the USA and Canada. Dandelion wine is made from the flowers.
Dandelion roots are roasted as an alternative to coffee. I love a tea called ‘Dandy Chai’ which is a spiced Dandelion-root tea. Dandelion coffee is completely caffeine free and has many health benefits, including promoting healthy liver, kidney, and bowel.
Dandelion Identifiable Features:
- One flower per stem
- Jagged, pointed leaves
- Hollow stems
- No hairs
- Flowers continuously, but most profusely in May and June
Dandelion Other names
Lion’s Tooth, Royal Herb, Piss-in-bed, Puff Ball, Wild Endive, Pissabed, Irish Daisy, Blow Ball, Bitterwort, Clock Flower, Cankerwort.
Wild Lettuce Identification
Lactuca virosa –
Wild Lettuce is a biennial (grows for 2 years) up to 6 ft tall. The Latin name “virosa” means “unpleasantly strong taste or smell” or “toxic” and “lactuca” is “milky extract”.
I’m sure this plant sounds very attractive by now: toxic milky extract with unpleasantly strong taste or smell!
Wild Lettuce has a brown tap root with a smooth, pale green stem. This stem sometimes has purple spots. The plant has some prickles on the lower parts. The broad, oval leaves have jagged edges. Wild Lettuce flowers look like Dandelion flowers.
It’s best known for its slightly narcotic and pain relieving properties, although all lettuces contain some of these narcotic properties to some degree. Wild Lettuce has the most of all and is often made into a skin lotion for irritation, sun burn, or redness.
These properties are found in the milky juice that flows freely from the whole plant when you cut it or it is wounded. The sap tastes bitter (Bitter Lettuce!) and smells like medicine. When this milky sap dries it hardens and turns brown. This dried, hardened sap is known as lactucarium.
The drug resembles a feeble opium without its tendency to upset the digestive system. It is used to a small extent as a sedative and narcotic.
Dissolved in wine it is said to be a good anodyne.
Dr. Collins stated that twenty-three out of twenty-four cases of dropsy were cured by taking doses of 18 grains to 3 drachms of extract in twenty-four hours. It is used in Germany in this complaint, but combined with more active drugs. It is said to be also a mild diaphoretic and diuretic, easing colic, inducing sleep and allaying cough. —https://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/l/lettuc17.html
Wild Lettuce Other Names
Lactucarium, Opium Lettuce, Strong Scented Lettuce, Bitter Lettuce, Green Endive, Poisonous Lettuce, Tall Lettuce, Great Lettuce
Wild Lettuce vs Dandelion Comparison
| Dandelion | Wild Lettuce | |
| Flower per stem | One flower per stem | Multiple flowers per stem |
| Perennial/Biennial | Perennial | Biennial |
| Height max | 12″ | 6ft |
| Prickly | No prickles | Prickles |
| Bloom time | Flowers continuously, but most profusely in May and June | Flowers July-August |
| Parts used | All parts are used | Lactuarium (dried sap) and leaves are used |
References
- https://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/d/dandel08.html
- https://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/l/lettuc17.html
- How can I use Herbs in My Daily Life – Isabell Shipard
- https://www.encyclopedia.com/plants-and-animals/plants/plants/dandelion
- https://healthy.net/2019/08/26/dandelion/
- https://www.hunker.com/12534294/when-do-dandelions-bloom
- https://www.henriettes-herb.com/eclectic/kings/taraxacum.html
- Dandelion seeds on Amazon
- Wild Lettuce seeds on Amazon
I have been studying medicine, (as a layman, mother of three and ailing woman) for many (44years). I’ve had debiltating chronic pain <22 years, and was prescribed (inevitably increasing amounts of) opiates for 14 of those years. After i survived and made it through a hellish withdrawal…I am 5yrs clean but still ailing, and pain is worse than ever. The LAST thing I want now is to be “hooked” yet again, on another pharmaceutical.
Hi Linda! Well done on your 5 years, sounds like it’s been a tough ride! Thanks for your comment 🙂
Thanks for the clarification. I have always mistaken wild lettuce for Dandelion up until now.
Thank you Obioha!
Is there any way this wild plant can give relief to someone with fibromyalgia?
Hi there Rosie, my apologies for the delay in responding to you!
One of my favorite herbs I would highly recommend to you is Herb Robert. In Isabell Shipard’s book “How can I use herbs in my daily life“, she describes many cases of people living with chronic pain who found relief using Herb Robert, particularly in combination with Fenugreek.
Another plant she highly recommends is the Mushroom Plant (Rungia klossii), due to it being extremely rich in chlorophyll.
The final herb I recommend you do some more research on is Willow (Salix alba). Willow bark and leaves contain salicin, which transforms to salicylic acid in your body. This acid can help relieve inflammation and may help counteract pain. It may take a little while before its starts working, so don’t give up too soon.
Please note that, although I have an adv. cert in naturopathy, I am not a qualified medical doctor and I highly recommend you check with your medical practitioners before embarking on your herbal journey.
I hope you find relief, Rosie!
x Elle
Thanks for sharing this article. Discovered your website through a friends blog – very informative and entertaining.
Thanks Elois, glad you enjoyed it!
bookmarked!!, I like your site!
Thank you Christian!
Very good article. I am going through some of these issues as well..
Hi there Luke, thanks! Are you foraging for weeds, or trying to identify them in your garden?
Excellent pieces. Keep posting such kind of info on your page. Im really impressed by your site.
Hey there Glen, thanks for visiting! I’m really glad you enjoy the site, always open to feedback 🙂
Elle
I simply wanted to write down a quick word to say thanks to you for those wonderful tips and hints you are showing on this site.
Awh, thank you Merlin! So good to hear that 🙂 Enjoy browsing the articles and have a lovely day!
Aw, this was an exceptionally nice post. I’m impressed how you find the time and actual effort to make a really good article!
Thank you Marie! It does take time and effort but I love doing it 🙂
Howdy! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be ok. I’m definitely enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.
Howdy Ani! I’d love for you to follow on Twitter 🙂 It’s not my most active social platform, I’m more on Pinterest and Facebook, but here’s the handle nonetheless: @ellehappens. See you there!
Thank you for sharing excellent information, your website is cool. I’m impressed by the detail you add to each article. You, my friend, ROCK!
Hey, thanks Serita, that’s so nice to hear! I put my all into each and every article so it’s great to know you enjoy them 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it as well as love understanding more about this topic. Thanks alot…
Hey Tessie, glad to help!
This is a topic that is close to my heart… Many thanks!
Where are your contact details though?
Hi there Joe, great! My contact details are on the contact page 🙂
Thank you very much for the informations, but please, if you love nature, don’t stay with amazon! 🙁
Hey Sfas, thanks for dropping by and I’m glad you enjoyed the info! I’d love you to tell me a bit more about your comment about Amazon, always open to feedback 🙂
I’m a website publisher, too, and not a big fan of Amazon. However, publishers have to pay for their websites as well as many other related expenses and there aren’t many options left. If you know of any, please inform us. For many of us, sharing our knowledge can become an expensive hobby, and it shouldn’t be that way.
Thanks Karen! This is very true. We pour our heart and soul into our blogs and to make it a full-time pursuit, income has to come from somewhere. I love your website by the way! Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Thank you so much for all of the information in your article. I have been happily married to a farmer for 40 years and I learned so much more from you !! Those prickly hairs just hurt my sensitive hands so it is nice to learn more about them other than famous words of my Hubby- “ Yep, those are weeds!” One day my youngest Son yelled STOP – so I stopped and parked our suburban on the side of the ditch. He jumped out and pinched the fresh new light green growth off of ,I believe, a mustard plant. I thought he was nuts! Turned out the Scout leader (farmer!) taught just that week how to eat and survive in the wild of our area. The fresh green was supposed to be high in vitamin C and of course, tasty! Thank you again for your enlightening article!
Thanks LoriLinn! It’s nice to learn more about weeds, they’re not all useless. I used to pull them out for no particular reason other than that they are “weeds” but now I see it more as “a plant that grows where I don’t want it”. I’ve learned so much about weeds over the years, there are many, many that have so many useful benefits. It’s so nice to hear your son is learning about the benefits of weeds and foraging from his scout leader! Elle