Wild lettuce
Lactuca inermis

Family: Asteraceae

What it is like

A herb. It has milky juice. It can grow 2.4 m high. There are only a few leaves. These can be on the base of the stems. They are narrow and the edges are entire. The leaves are 5 cm long by 3 cm wide. The flower heads are very narrow. They are blue, white or yellow.

There are about 20 Lactuca species.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows in hot arid places. It grows in places with a marked dry season. It can be in sandy and stony soils. These can be seasonally waterlogged. It grows between 100-3,450 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Chad, Congo, East Africa, Equatorial-Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinée, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Middle East, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The young leaves are used as a vegetable. They are lightly boiled.

It is a vegetable used in a few local places.

Edible parts

Leaves, stem, flower, vegetable

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Ingabe, Kaade-kadde, Kholoboto, Lekolobote, Lihabe, Nonokwarai, Punta-bowali, Yanrin-oko

Synonyms

Lactuca abyssinica Fresen.; Lactuca capensis Thunb.; Lactuca hochstetteri (A. Rich.) Oliv. & Hiern.; Lactuca holophylla Baker; Lactuca humilis A. Rich.; Lactuca kenyaensis Stebbins; Lactuca lebrunii Robyns; Lactuca leptocephala Stebbins; Lactuca pallidocaerulea Dinter; Lactuca rariflora Fresen.; Lactuca schweinfurthii sensu Robyns; Lactuca seretii De Willd.; Lactuca uniflora Fresen.; Lactuca vanderystii De Willd.; Lactuca yemensis Deflers;