HO ENGLISH BOTANY. 
Stem scabrous with small prickles. Radical leaves obovate, 
undivided; lower stem -leaves spreading horizontally, obovate, 
blunt; the upper ones oblong; all (except the lowest) amplex- 
: .ill, with blunt or sub-acute adpressed auricles (not decurrent), 
undivided or occasionally runcinate-pinnatifid, sub-spinous-denti- 
culate, spiny on the midrib beneath. Panicle with the branches 
rather elongate, spreading horizontally. Achenes purplish-black, 
clliptical-ovoid, bordered all round, glabrous at the summit; beak 
white, as long as the achene. 
In waste places, banks, and clhTs. Rather rare, but pretty 
generally distributed in England, except in the South-western 
counties ; rare in Scotland, where it occurs about Stirling Castle, 
and at Kinnoul and Dunkeld, Perthshire. 
England, Scotland. Biennial or annual ? Late Summer 
and Autumn. 
Radical leaves 4 inches to 1 foot long, narrowed into an indis- 
tinct winged petiole at the base. Stem 18 inches to 6 feet high, 
simple below, branched above, with the branches comparatively 
short, and spreading horizontally so as to form a long lax oblong 
panicle. Lower stem-leaves narrow r ed at the base, blunt ; upper 
ones scarcely narrowed towards the base, blunt or sub-acute ; auri- 
cles bent down parallel to the stem. Anthodes ^ to f inch long, 
shortly stalked, ascending vertically so as to be all on the upper side 
of the branches of the panicle. Phyllaries frequently tinged with 
dull-red. Florets pale-yellow. Achenes ^ inch long, exclusive of 
the slender white beak, with a broad beaded margin all round, and 
slender rough ribs on each face ; beak enlarged into a disk at the 
top. Pappus silky-white. Plant glabrous, light glaucous-green, 
particularly the root-leaves ; stem often spotted with purple. 
Strong-scented Lettuce. 
French, Laitue Vireuse. German, Gift Lattich. 
The Wild Lettuce contains all the active properties of the genus. Its juice smells 
like opium, and is milky, acrid, and bitter. It is the dpidaS, aypia (thridax agria) of 
I 'iuscorides. Before the flowering-stem begins to show itself, it is well known that the 
Garden Lettuce contains a pleasant sweet watery juice, and in this condition it is used 
throughout Kuropcfor salads. But in both varieties, no sooner does the flowering-stem 
risn above the early leaves, than the juice grows milky, very bitter, and of a strong 
rank peculiar odour j and these qualities go on increasing until the flowers blow, which 
happens in the Wild Lettuce in the months of July or August, and in the Garden 
Lettuce in A.ugust or September. So long as the juice remains clear, it contains 
chiefly sugar, mucilage, and albumen; but. when it becomes milky, it also contaius 
resin, a Buhstance like caoutchouc, and a bitter crystalline active principle. A con- 
siderable number of preparations have at various times been obtained from the Garden 
i ace, and are sold in the shops under different names. There are lettuce lozenges, 
