Lactuca virosa

Description

Wild Opium, Wild Lettuce, Bitter Lettuce

Since Antiquity, wild opium lettuce has been used as a medicinal opium substitute. The dried milk-sap or boiled leaves of this wild lettuce are mildly narcotic, traditionally serving as a home remedy for coughs.

Sow in spring or fall, in pots outdoors, or directly in beds outdoors.  Barely cover the seed with soil and tamp securely, then keep it cool and evenly moist until germination.  In very cold soil conditions (freezing and thawing), germination will take longer.  Very warm soil temperatures will disallow germination. Indoor growers will often be disappointed–the wild plant needs cool temperatures to germinate.