killerplants.com | Weird Plants | Weird Plants Archive Most Recent | Free Newsletter Signup

Killer Savings Offer:

Who took the toxins out of lettuce?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

September 12, 2002

killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~

Killer Savings: Henry Fields -$20 off of $50—>Click here.

Gurney's Seed and Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.

Suggested Reading—>Click here.

Assorted Killer Savings Garden Links—>Click here.

Unique Professionally Designed Gardens—>Click here.

Killer Picks: Wall O' Water, Mini Electric Greenhouse, Garden Soil Inoculant—>Click here.

Romaine, Salad Bowl, Ice Leaf, Black-Seeded Simpson, Ithaca Head, Red Sails—>Click here.

Of the lettuce genus Lactuca, Hortus Third states there are "Between 50 and 90 species of annual, biennial, or perennial herbs with milky sap, widely distributed, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere..." (L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Cornell University, 1976) Lettuce species are generally inedible, ranging from bitter to toxic. Only one species, Lactuca sativa Linnaeus, has become all the varieties grown in gardens and on farms.

Lettuce Blend Tossed Salad in a Single Packet

Gurney's Choice Deliciously crisp and colorful mix is equal parts Romaine, Black-Seeded Simpson, Salad Bowl and Red Sails leaf lettuce. A fantastic blend of Lettuce. 40-70 DAYS. Zones: 3 - 9 (-30° F.) Click here - $20 off your first order at Gurneys! [All Lettuce!] [Vegetable Seed!] [Vegetable Plants!]

Romaine lettuce is believed the oldest variety. Paintings of a Romaine-type garden lettuce appear on Egyptian tombs dated to 4500 BCE. Lettuce was popular in Rome where the plants were raised both for culinary and medicinal uses. Pliny the Elder believed "Lettuces have special properties...they are soporific (sleep-inducing), and can check sexual appetite, cool a feverish body, purge the stomach, and increase the volume of blood." (Natural History, Book XX, pre-79 CE, trans. John F. Healy).

Garden lettuce is not merely a plant taken from the wild and raised in a horticultural setting. The plant is not found in the wild. No one is certain when garden lettuce came to exist, but archaeological evidence suggests that in the distant past, Egyptian gardeners began changing a wild species.

Centuries of cultivating only those lettuce plants that lacked the bitter latex and passing down the seeds to the next generation of gardeners, created a plant unlike its wild relatives. From genetic studies, C.F. Quiros (University of California-Davis, 2001) feels prickly lettuce "L[actuca] serriola is the closest relative and probable ancestor."

Garden lettuce kept two traits found among its wild relatives. When the plants bolt (flower and set seeds), they revert to bitter and inedible. Also, the seeds will not germinate if they are covered with soil. It isn't that the seedlings cannot grow through the soil. Lettuce seeds will not germinate unless they are exposed to light.

California Lutheran University has posted a close-up of prickly lettuce taken by Barbara J. Collins. To view a photograph of the probable ancestor of garden lettuce, click on the link:

http://ww1.clunet.edu/wf/chap/flowers/fwr-149.htm

The Botany Department, University of Toronto has posted a photograph of Romaine lettuce taken by T.A. Dickinson. To view Romaine in a garden, click on the link:

Click here to view Romaine in a garden

killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~

Unique Professionally Designed Gardens

Springhill Nursery®

Spring Hill Nursery has unique gardens professionally designed by experts to take the guesswork out of gardening. Whether you are looking for a three season garden, foundation garden, or a garden to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, Spring Hill Nursery has created a step-by-step design just for you. Click here - $20 off your first order at Spring Hill Nursery!

Wall O' Water

Gurney's Seed and Nursery®

Harvest Earlier in the Season - Set out tomatoes and tuber plants 6-8 weeks earlier than usual inside these protective walls! Plastic water filled tubes absorb heat during the day, release it at night. Forms a circle 4 ½ ft. around by 1 ½ ft. tall. Click here - $20 off your first order at Gurneys!
[More Growing Aids & Supplies!]

Mini Electric Greenhouse

Gurney's Seed and Nursery®

Worry Free--No Adjustments – Automatically stays at 75 degrees--no adjusting required. Set seedling flats or seed-starting trays inside. Peaked roof, vented panels control humidity, provide proper circulation. Measures 17 x 12-1/2 x 13-1/2 inches. Uses 110-volt outlet. UL listed. Click here - $20 off your first order at Gurneys!
[More Growing Aids & Supplies!]

Garden Soil Inoculant

Henry Fields Seed and Nursery®

Improves the yields of peas and beans. – Encourages nitrogen fixation so plants develop stronger roots. Shake onto the soil as you plant. Treats 150 ft. of row. 8.7 oz. Click here - $20 off at Henry Fields Seed and Nursery! [More Gardening Aids!]

Romaine Head Lettuce

Gurney's Seed and Nursery®

Tasty, Loosely Folded Heads

PARIS WHITE COS.

Piquant flavor sets it apart from the other lettuces.

Romaine Lettuce produces vase-shaped heads 10 inches tall. 70 DAYS. Zones: 3 - 9 (-30° F.) Click here - $20 off your first order at Gurneys! [All Lettuce!]

[Vegetable Seed!] [Vegetable Plants!]

Grow several types of lettuce for a mix of colors and textures. Leaf lettuce has loose rosettes, produces over a longer season and is more heat tolerant. Head lettuce forms round heads and tends to be more crispy in texture.

Salad Bowl Lettuce

Gurney's Seed and Nursery®

Heat Resistant--Slow to Bolt

Top quality! Close-set, deep-lobed, brilliant green leaves--easy to harvest.

Noted for lasting sweetness and tenderness. Stays crisp and tasty even after the weather becomes hot. 45 DAYS. Zones: 3 - 9 (-30° F.) Click here - $20 off your first order at Gurneys! [All Lettuce!]

[Vegetable Seed!] [Vegetable Plants!]

Comments: Stays mild and sweet. Fast growing, big-yielding variety. Long standing. Heat resistant, does not get bitter in hot weather. Very slow to bolt.

Green Ice Leaf Lettuce

Gurney's Seed and Nursery®

Vitamin Rich and Really Sweet

Gurney's Choice Very high in nutrients and slow to bolt.

Crisp, loose heads of slightly cut, ruffled leaves. Green Ice Leaf Lettuce is bright green color, sweet taste. 45 DAYS. Zones: 3 - 9 (-30° F.) Click here - $20 off your first order at Gurneys! [All Lettuce!]

[Vegetable Seed!] [Vegetable Plants!]

Comments: Slow to bolt. Sweet lettuce. Dark green, ruffled leaves. Harvest thinnings for young greens. Harvest when 4 - 6 inches tall for salad greens. High in nutrients. Loose leaf type which forms a loose head.

Black-Seeded Simpson Lettuce

Gurney's Seed and Nursery®

Early, Curly, Delicately Flavored

Favorite leaf lettuce for generations of gardeners.

Bright green leaves, tender and nicely sweet at all stages.

48 DAYS. Zones: 3 - 9 (-30° F.) Click here - $20 off your first order at Gurneys! [All Lettuce!]

[Vegetable Seed!] [Vegetable Plants!]

Comments: Leaves are also broad, crumpled, and frilled. Well able to tolerate summer heat, drought. An exceptionally good keeper. Large, upright plants. Loose leaf type. Very early and adaptable. Withstands some frost. Slow bolting. Inner leaves blanch almost white. Very popular long favored variety, fixture in North American gardens for over a hundred years.

Ithaca Head Lettuce

Gurney's Seed and Nursery®

Heat Tolerant, Really Reliable

Extends the season, slow to form seed stalks.

Produces firm, well-wrapped heads. Resists brown rib and tip burn.

65 DAYS. Zones: 3 - 9 (-30° F.) Click here - $20 off your first order at Gurneys! [All Lettuce!]

[Vegetable Seed!] [Vegetable Plants!]

Comments: Disease resistant to Brown Rib and Tip Burn. Sure heading, reliable. Tolerates muck or upland soils. Good head lettuce for Northern growers due to the days to maturity. Good for warm weather regions due to its heat tolerance, will continue to head. Slow bolting. Crisp type lettuce. Extends the season.

Red Sails Lettuce

Gurney's Seed and Nursery®

Long-Lasting Bronze Leaves

Red Snails Lettuce are a favorite for salads and garnishes.

Deep bronze-red crinkly leaves have mild, bitter-free flavor. A pretty partner for green- leaf varieties.

40 DAYS. Zones: 3 - 9 (-30° F.) Click here - $20 off your first order at Gurneys! [All Lettuce!]

[Vegetable Seed!] [Vegetable Plants!]

Comments: Slow bolting for red variety. Early. Holds color well. Mild, bitter-free flavor. Six times the Vitamin A and three times the Vitamin C as supermarket lettuce. Can be planted year round.