Wild Lettuce
Lactuca virosa
Opium lettuce, historically used as a painkiller and to bring on sleep. Eating it raw has caused poisoning with confusion and hallucinations.
Safety at a glance
- PregnancyNothing recorded
- BreastfeedingNothing recorded
- MedicinesNothing recorded
- Who should avoid itNothing recorded
- AllergiesNothing recorded
- Toxicity1 note →
Tap a box to read the safety notes below. “Nothing recorded” means our sources don't cover it, not that it's safe.
What is Wild Lettuce?
- Plant family
- Asteraceae, the daisy family
- Parts used
- The dried milky sap (lactucarium) and leaves
- Genus
- Lactuca
- Species
- virosa
Also called
Opium Lettuce, Lactuca virosa
Traditional names
Lactucarium
Traditionally used for
- Pain and sleep (historical)
Traditionally described as
- Eased pain and calmed mice (in animal studies)
Health topics
Where Wild Lettuce appears in symptom search, and why. Being listed doesn't mean it's a proven treatment.
- Poisonous Plants
Eating wild lettuce raw has caused poisoning with confusion, hallucinations and widened pupils.
- Sleep Problems (Insomnia)
Historically used as a sedative and sleep aid; only tested in mice.
Safety
Toxicity testing
Eating wild lettuce can be poisonous. In Iran, 8 people who ate it raw as a vegetable were hospitalised with confusion or reduced consciousness, agitation and anxiety, hallucinations, widened pupils, blurred vision, dry mouth, trouble passing urine, sweating, vomiting and dizziness. All recovered, though one needed intensive care. It contains traces of hyoscyamine, a compound also found in belladonna.[1]Study
What does the research say?
Traditional use
These are traditional uses, not proven treatments.
Wild lettuce, also called opium lettuce, has a milky sap that hardens into a brown substance called lactucarium when dried. Before and during the 19th century it was well known as a painkiller and a way to calm people and bring on sleep, and was used to calm coughs, help sleep, and for kidney problems, painful womb cramps and swelling. A 1917 catalogue called it a safe sleep aid for when opium was unsuitable. It's also been used in skin lotions for sunburn.[1]Study
Laboratory & animal research
Lab and animal results show what might be worth studying in people. They don't show that the herb has these effects in humans.
In mice, bitter compounds found in wild lettuce (lactucin and lactucopicrin) relieved pain about as well as ibuprofen, and two of them made the mice calmer and less active. They haven't been tested in people.[2]Study
Technical detail: hot plate and tail-flick tests at 15–30 mg/kg; reduced spontaneous locomotor activity.
In short
Can be poisonous if eaten.
Sources
- [1] Wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa) toxicity · DOI: 10.1136/bcr.06.2008.0134Peer-reviewed study
- [2] Analgesic and sedative activities of lactucin and some lactucin-like guaianolides in mice · DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2006.03.003Peer-reviewed study
This information is educational and traditional in nature, and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Unfamiliar word? See what these words mean.