Finding Medicine in Nature

Do you ever find yourself just walking outside and taking in some fresh air? Wandering around, maybe finding paths along the way. I bet you would come across some flowers and become curious like "Hmm, what is this?" Or maybe you just admire them along your journey.

Overview:

I'm sure you've probably come across this plant without even noticing. This is the wild lettuce plant or "Lactuca virosa" or "Lactuca Canadensis" if you're in the Southeastern part of the United States. The Lactuca genus species is found all over the Northern Hemisphere . They're considered a "weed" in most regions that grow in abandoned fields, disturbed areas, and along the roadsides.

Identification:

Wild Lettuce often has prickly hairs on its underside down the spine of its leaves. They look similar to sow thistle, so it's important to know how to identify the plants. Different species share different characteristics, but they all have one thing in common. When you cut or bruise the stem of the wild lettuce, it produces a milky latex substance. This substance was traditionally used as a pain reliever. The leaves can be boiled and it's pain relieving properties can be extracted into an oil. The strength of the extract will be determined by the ratio of plant matter to the amount of alcohol or water used to extract the oil from the plants. This can be used as an alternative to pharmaceutical products that work by blocking the pain signals. This extraction can ease the pain more effectively than a pill.

Stay tuned to learn about more plants as we discover them. Feel free to share some plants that you find in the group forum. We can all benefit from having more knowledge about the natural world as our ancestors did once before.