Wild Lettuce

Description:The wild lettuce is a common plant found all over Europe and normally grows in the open areas as well as beside roads and pathways. The plant is also known as the compass plant as its leaves change direction to follow the sun. Since early ages, antecedents of the wild lettuce have enjoyed a special status as a beneficial therapeutic plant and were treasured as a tranquilizer and pain killer. The herb valued so much that during the 19th century people used it as a substitute for opium! The story goes that Roman emperor Augustus supposedly constructed a statue of a physician who had recommended lettuce to treat him of a serious ailment. While it is not comprehensible which variety of lettuce cured the emperor, it is believed that the herb was prickly lettuce.