Witnessed by: Western · Unani
Prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola), of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. Erect prickly annual or biennial with a stiff stem and spine-edged clasping leaves; native range: Europe, North Africa and western Asia; a wayside weed now widespread. Globally recognized as khas-us-sabab in Arabic, and wild lettuce, compass plant, scarole in English. The part used is dried latex (lactucarium) and leaves. Grey-green leaves with a spiny midrib and a rank smell when bruised; the wounded stem weeps a copious white latex, intensely bitter and narcotic.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
PRICKLY LETTUCE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- prickly lettuce
- Scientific name
- Lactuca serriola L.
- Family
- Asteraceae (Compositae)
Form
- Part used
- dried latex (lactucarium) and leaves
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- bitter · acrid
- Unani
- bitter · acrid
Temperature
Western: cold (and dry)
Unani: cold (2nd degree, and dry)
convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses converge — a cold, drying, pain-dulling narcotic in each
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- nervous system · nerves · lungs
- Unani
- brain · nerves · lungs
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- sedative, anodyne, antispasmodic and antitussive, a mild narcotic; the dried latex a substitute for opium
- Unani
- muraqqid (soporific), musakkin-e-alam (anodyne) and mukhaddir (narcotic)
Cautions
Contraindications: cold constitutions, pregnancy, and large narcotic doses
Toxicity: overdose causes stupor, dilated pupils and restlessness; the fresh plant is mildly acrid to the skin
Interactions
- Western
- sedatives / CNS depressants: additive central nervous system depression from the lactucarium
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