Witnessed by: Western · Unani
Wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa), of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. Tall biennial with a spiny-backed midrib and pale yellow flowers; native range: Central and southern Europe, North Africa and west Asia; naturalised more widely. Globally recognized as kahu sahrai in Arabic, and bitter lettuce, opium lettuce, acrid lettuce in English. The part used is dried latex (lactucarium), leaf and flowering tops. The whole plant is heavy with a white, bitter latex that reeks faintly of opium and stains the fingers brown as it dries.
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.
WILD LETTUCE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Wild lettuce
- Scientific name
- Lactuca virosa L.
- Family
- Asteraceae (Compositae)
Form
- Part used
- dried latex (lactucarium), leaf and flowering tops
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- bitter · acrid
- Unani
- bitter
Temperature
- Western
- cool
- Unani
- cold & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- nerves · nervous system
- Unani
- brain · nerves
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- sedative, hypnotic, anodyne, antispasmodic, mildly narcotic
- Unani
- munawwim (soporific), musakkin (sedative and anodyne), mukhaddir (mildly narcotic)
Cautions
Contraindications: large doses; pregnancy; alongside sedative medication or before driving
Toxicity: excess causes stupor, nausea and dizziness; the fresh latex can irritate the skin
Interactions
- Western
- sedatives / CNS depressants: additive central nervous depression and drowsiness
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