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| On our trip to Camas, WA I saw a yellow wildflower along the scenic trail to Multnohma Falls in the spectacular Columbia River Gorge. The flower turned out to be a close DNA relative of the genus Lactuca, better known as garden lettuce. Upon arriving back in Twin Oaks Valley, San Diego County, I remembered a tall, naturalized weed called prickly lettuce that grew in vacant fields of San Marcos Farms. Sure enough it still grows here, and is in my yard at the Wayne's Word headquarters. Like the yellow flower at Multnohma Falls it also belongs to the genus Lactuca. In fact, to my astonishment it is the ancestral plant from which all of our garden lettuce varieties (L. sativa) are derived from. |
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| This yellow European wildflower was common along the trail to scenic Multnomah Falls. I was able to identify it with Google AI Photo ID. It is Lactuca muralis with the unusual common name of "wall lettuce." Surprisingly enough it belongs to the same genus (Lactuca) as garden lettuce, although some references place it in the genus Mycelis. In fact, young leaves & shoots can apparently be used in salads! |
| Although the prickly leaves do not quite match the heads of modern lettuce in our delicious salads, this is truly the ancestor of garden lettuce. It is an invasive weed of the enormous sunflower family (Asteraceae) with numerous clusters of airborne seeds. So the next time you enjoy your favorite salad, think about this remarkable Old World plant with prickly leaves and how it was bred into garden lettuce by some amazing ancient horticulturists thousands of years ago. Little-known facts about plants and people is why I developed a course with this title during my career at Palomar College. |
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Cultivated varieties of garden lettuce (Lactuca sativa) from the local supermarket, and the wild prickly
lettuce (Lactuca serriola) naturalized at Wayne's Word headquarters in Twin Oaks Valley, San Marcos. |
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Why the wild ancestor of garden lettuce was named "prickly lettuce."
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| Salad made with young, tender leaves of "prickly lettuce." This wild ancestor of garden lettuce is a tall, naturalized weed in vacant fields of Twin Oaks Valley. |
| A vacant field in Twin Oaks Valley with flowering prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola). These tall flower stalks with prickly, clasping leaf bases show little resemblance to leafy heads of cultivated lettuce. |
