Wild Lettuce vs Sow Thistle | Comparison & Identification
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- Wild (prickly) lettuce or sow thistle? Be sure to watch to find out the differences! I compare the two plants to help you properly identify each of these wild edibles. For more information see the links below.
Prickly Lettuce (identification, distinguishing features, flowers, leaves, height, habitat & edible parts): www.ediblewild...
Sow Thistle: www.ediblewild...
#wildlettuce #sowthistle #pricklylettuce
Thank you, M'Lady, for so honoring me! And now we are all experts! Beautiful clear and concise video! I'm so enjoying your excellent work.
You are most welcome Wayne! It was a great suggestion and it made total sense to do a comparison. I am blessed to be in an area in which I was able do the comparison of these two plants! Thank you so much for the kind words and your support, it means so much to me!
Wayne is a tool
Thank. You. Can you please tell the difference of this two to Dandelion as well. Thank you
@@lettysirkkaiyambo4186 The dandelion will not have spines on it, and dandelion is a much smaller plant, growing low and close to the ground.
And thank yóu for asking Wayne because otherwise she would not have made this video and I still would not know the difference. Turns out, I have the thistle variance and nót wild lettuce. Thank you both!
This is a great identification video. Thank you.
In the late 80s, I worked on a large produce farm in Griffith, NSW, Australia. The family grew hundreds of acres of Rockmelon (Cantaloupe) for local and export to the US. They also had a contract with a seed company (Yates) to supply melon seed, as well as giving them some secure paddocks (fields) to grow lettuce seed.
Only the most trusted employees could work on the lettuce field.
Why?
Lettuce seed was, at the time, worth about AUD7000 for a seed bag (2ft x 2ft x 3ft). Further, the fields were coded by the seed company so no one knew what variety was being grown. They also had armed security guards onsite 24/7, and we had an overseer who ensured we weren't stealing leaves or even entire plants to allow the competition to know what was being grown. We weren't allowed to carry a backpack with food and water in it, even though the paddocks were at least 25 acres apiece. We would have to walk back to the parking area for our lunch break. Yes, they were worried about industrial spies stealing unique hybrids.
Our job was to deheart lettuce so that they would throw to seed. We would work a hundred-plus acre field, then a week or so later go through and deheart any that had not started to throw stems.
When the fields were harvested and winnowed, all the machinery had to be hit with flame guns to burn off any seed before going to the next field with a different variety.
It was pretty crazy.
That is incredibly nice of you to share that! That size bag would have been hundreds of thousands if not millions of seed!!!! That must have been incredible difficult to work in the heat with no water! I've read a lot about the history of tea and the harsh treatment many workers faced, the spice trade too. I never even thought about lettuce! Again, thank you for sharing!!
And I would have gotten away with it too; if not for the pesky security gourds. They were not even tempted by my free lunches at applebees. I'll get your hybrids yet Yates!
Well I lived in pa all my life and was taught when I was child from my foster gram about it I haven't ate it since I was a child my gram used to make it into a salad
Wow!
Not the high value/high security crop usually associated with Griffith back in the day 😉
I wish my mom was still here. I miss her so much and I’ve never been so much into foraging and gardening than I am now. It makes me feel like I’m with my mom spending time with her. I just wish I could talk to her about this stuff and the stuff I’m learning. I believe she’d be proud. She was so smart and most of all wise and very funny.
Talk to her when you are gardening or out foraging - she probably is listening. I believe that when our loved ones pass, they are still with us spiritually. Your mom sounds like she was an amazing woman.
Mom is a really difficult person to lose. I understand that loneliness and longing for her.
I feel the same about my grandmothers when I garden and cook. Mom is alive but we don’t speak. Sending heart hugs to you and hoping for your garden to flourish in your mothers delight!
Yea wish my mom was still alive to
Cause my mom would never left me nor my children go hungry
When I have debilitating pain, my wild lettuce goes in my pain tea, along with spirea and chamomile flowers. I don’t take Rx. I don’t need to. Excellent presentation.
Thank you for your kind words. I hope you do not experience that pain often!! I am so sorry to hear that this pain is debilitating.
How much do you use for that type of pain? I have a very bad health condition and I’m 45, I only do natural healing now and looking for help with pain, severe level 10 pain at times. How many leaves should I eat? I are 3 today and did nothing at all, I’m 115lbs. Im disabled
@@sadie3717 I cannot answer that as I am not a qualified health professional. Sorry about that.
Asking Stephanie
@@sadie3717 theres a video on RUclips by feral foraging on concentrating the lettuce, hopefully may be of some help, they have many videos on it
This has been the most important video on identifying wild lettuce. I now feel confident that I have sow thistle. Thank you!
Kimberly I am so glad you gained this confidence! Thanks for watching!!!
Sow thistle is also edible
@Leslie Phoenix is it?
@@analemus4305 Yes it is en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonchus#Uses
I can’t live without Wild Lettuce! Thank God I have plentiful and huuuuge WL Plants!
You have no idea how much you are appreciated OR how many folks lives will benefit from you just being born. Thank you my friend and God bless you.
Oh my gosh, you have brought tears to my eyes. I am so touched. Thank you ever so much - may God Bless you and your loved ones.
Thank you for being one of the few that differentiate between sow thistle and wild lettuce. Too often they are referred to as one in the same. Even milk thistle is thrown in...3 plants as 1. Wish people would leave the topic alone if they don't know what they're talking about
Thank you. A lot of people are clickbaters - they'll do whatever it takes to get people to their channel to make money :(
Milk thistle is poisonous to humans !! That kind of misinformation should be reported !!
Well done. This lettuce showed up in my yard 4 years ago and one plant, when it broke in the wind, measured 14 feet. There were a dozen plants that year and 30 the next. I wish all knowledge-providers were as succinct and informative as you were in this video.
Thank you for your kind words. It drives me nuts when I watch a video to learn and there if far too much "fluff" - I truly believe in being accurate - yet succinct!
Thank you for this. Your calm voice was very clear . No background noise to make it hard to understand. I really appreciated this very much.
Thank you Carolyn and I appreciate that you are here!
Love the format and no nonsense real information..👍
Thank you Tony for your kind words!
Wonderful video, very detailed, and definitely meet the title!
Very happy to see you mention the real concerns, too many people have jump on the "it's natural, it doesn't have side effects", forgetting even too much water can kill ya.
Thanks.
Thank you so much Rick and yes - too much of a good thing can be a bad thing - including water!!
I made tincture from the roots of wild lettuce and it certainly works well. As with most things, moderation is key. Great informative video, thank you.
Thank you for sharing that! And many thanks for watching!!
It is absolutely amazing on how complex plants are , just as every thing on earth . How everything is connected and has a purpose . A point i like to meantion is if it has a defensive characteristic like prickles or spines its protecting something valuable... For the most part . general tule of thumb
Our Buckthorn bush has vicious thorns so it must have some important medical uses! We just cut down but now it's regrowing ... Guess I'll let it come back and just prune it regularly. I have to read about it's uses. I suspect it was used to keep people regular as I know the purple berry gives all the local birds purple diarrhea!😂 I hate it when they roost on my car!
This video is good timing for me, a new subscriber. I just transplanted a sow thistle, thinking it was wild lettuce. Your detailed video confirmed what I have learned about the difference between the two plants. I was able to forage some wild lettuce at an abandoned lot, after a rain, and I now have it setting up as a tincture.
Welcome and thank you for subscribing! I truly hope you enjoy all my videos!! I had to chuckle - - I recently transplanted a sow thistle into my back yard. The good news it is thriving!!!
All the domesticated leaf and head lettuces are very easy to find the seeds. I always suggest getting the seeds of your favorite greens and just broadcast them all over your field and let them take over. They will grow well and thick and take over. You don't even need to water them. They will all live off the dew. You will have all the greens you need or want. The same goes for onions and other garden plants that can grow wild. After all, every domesticated plant was once wild.
Ah - - indeed!!!!!!!!!
Broccoli wants to know if you think it's a joke 😉
Very informative. I want to learn more about the uses of these two plants. This was a good beginning. One or both randomly grow in my yard for years. I've always dug them up as weeds along with dandelions. Henceforth they will be given more respect.
Music to my ears!!! More food in your kitchen!!!
You could also give dandelions more respect too. A great little plant for you and your garden
@@KungaPalyah Everything eats dandelions. Chickens, pigs, cows, rabbits, ducks, geese, me ....lol
You give me the confidence of identifying these, as I have always been confused between these two. Huge thanks to you. Please make more video on similar topics.
When I studied herbs years ago I read that the ancient Romans recommended that women having problems producing enough milk to have a soup made from lettuce. It did not mention what kind of lettuce but it was prescribed to calm the women.
Milk thistle
@@jessicak.8910 Interesting that the herbal book just called it wild lettuce
This is the best video I have found to help differentiate and identify these... thank you for your thoughtful detailed comparison!
Ah thank you Scott - you made my morning!!!
Love the well detailed tutorial in identifying the plants 👍🏽
Thank you Shirley and I am so grateful to you for watching!
Just ran across this video and canbnotbthanknyou enough for thebl simple and CLEAR identification. Been walking KY yard looking at my "weeds" and could not tell the difference! Hoping I have both in my yard
I hope you have both too!!!!!!
Wow this is such a good and disruptive way to compare the both of them ❤
This is the best and easiest to understand I have seen yet.
Thank you for watching and for your kind words.
I needed this lesson.
I thought sow thistle was a type of dandelion,lol.
Thank you for teaching real helpful things
And thank you so much John for watching! I am so glad this helped you!
1 year later here i am learning to Eat what we have around hopefully i learn alot seeing these identification Characteristics...
Thank you for your amazing info, especially about the dangers, I've not heard of them before in any blog.
Thank you for watching Mandy!!!
Thank you so much for this video❣️ I’ve seen so many trying to distinguish between the 2 & still not clear. Yours is *definitive* .
Great job. 💚
Thank you so much!
Agree!!
Oh... I think I might have put down a sheet of paper as background, rather than the weathered wood, which is beautiful (!) but striated, and thus harder on the eyes, and distracting, when trying to differentiate between two very similar plants! The dappled light doesn't help either! (So many times I have tried photographing something in this light and the outcome is disappointing!!).
OTHERWISE, Wow!! OK... now I want to backtrack; I've watched the whole video and this is FABULOUS!! YOU ARE SO THOROUGH!!! Thank you! So informative/detailed. I feel more educated now... and I deeply appreciate your doing this for us! (Am going to subscribe).
Thank you for your feedback - always appreciated! And thank you for your very kind words. I truly appreciate you watching and subscribing!
Wild Lettuce , Grow One plant and you'll have seeds for life .
Easy to tell the difference .. Thanks for Sharing this amazing plants details ...
Most wild plants produce hundreds if not thousands of seeds - -they want us to reap all the benefits they offer us! Thanks for watching!
Very good video on how to tell wild lettuce for sure !
Thank you Sandra!
Thank you so much for this video! I've been confused about wild lettuce since learning about it!
You are welcome!
Thank you for this video! Cleared up my confusion!
You are most welcome!!!
Great video!
Thank you for pronouncing sow thistle correctly - sow, as in female pig, not sow as in sowing seeds.
Thank you so very much for your kind words. Also, thank you for watching!
Thank you for such an informative video. Never knew there was a difference, but I'm much wiser now. Would have been cooking sow thistle and would have thought but it doesn't work like they claim.
Thank you for watching!
Great content and much appreciated concern for those who might abuse Wild Lettuce. I have used WL in moderation for years now with great pain management success thanks to the knowledge of other great forages and plant purveyors such as Yarrow Willard master herbalist and Feral Foraging. Again, thank you for such great content !
You are most welcome, and thank you for being here and watching!! Your support means a lot to me!
I've been using herbs for years, medicinally and in the kitchen. This is the best video I've seen that's really clear about the difference with both plants. Kudos to you for successfully using wild lettuce for pain.....I'm confident with many herbs and plants to make into tinctures etc, wild lettuce is something I'd love to try medicinally and naturally for pain, but I have yet to run across any definite ways to prepare and properly use it...I'm so glad you figured it out for yourself
How would some abuse wild lettuce lol
Thank you for a well done and calm presentation. I have not yet seen a video comparing these leaves other than Greene Dean’s that mentions the difference in the shape of the leaf at the clasp point. Your wild lettuce has arrowhead hind points that extend past the stem like wings, whereas sow thistle Sonchus clasps in a recurve under the leaf like a fiddlehead on either side. I do not know the technical correct terminology for those parts. I realize my Sonchus sow thistle variety in my southern state my have a more pronounced recurve than those in northern climes.
Thank you for your kind comments and for watching! Green Dean is a knowledgeable individual!
Dry informative you’re absolutely right I was watching on RUclips and a commercial popped up of a lady that’s a herbalist and she explained how you could boil down the wild, lettuce, kind of fermented in the way and develop a painkiller and why it peaked my interest is because I’m a chronic pain sufferer and I take some pretty strong pain meds and I’ve been trying for a while to get off of them and go towards more natural healthier pain management, but you also have to think as you said there are many many things that could go wrong especially if it’s taken incorrectly, so you really opened my eyes up to this and have to do more investigation and know from certified herbalist the proper amount to take if this is what Im leaning towards for a stopping addictive pharmaceutical medications. Thank you so much for this video and your amazing information. You’ve open my eyes to the seriousness, and penitential harm that can be caused, that so many aren’t aware of. Thank you again.
Thank you so much for your very thoughtful comment. I am sorry to hear you are going through pain. We really have to let logic prevail over emotion otherwise some horrible mistakes can happen. It can be a "wild west" of information out there and we truly have to navigate very carefully. Again, thank you!! And I truly wish you all the very best in your journey!
Thank you for such an excellent & credible tutorial. As an ND & student of herbology, I most appreciate this quality teaching. Definitely subscribing. 😊
Thank you for your kind words and for subscribing - I truly appreciate it!!!!♥
Very good video. I have more kinds of lettuce than this in my yard, but I am going to go out and find these two plants. I think I saw one with single flowers.
Thank you!
Wow I am so glad YT put this video on my feed. You did an excellent job of getting right to the point. The pictures, descriptions, comparisons, and info, so easy to absorb in my feeble brain. Nice job and thank you.
Thank you so much for your very kind words. I truly appreciate you watching and taking the time to leave me feedback!
Thank you for thos video, i have been interested in learning about wild lettuce for pain, i quit using big pharma meds years ago!
Best identification videos on the internet 🥰
Ah, thank you!! I am so touched!!
Thank you! I found a plant in my yard today I wondered about. I'll be checking it when I get home.
Thank you for sharing!! I have both. Growing side by side!! This is important when also trying to harvest to make tinctures for pain.
Thank you for watching! Love making tinctures!!
Terrific way to compare the leaves. Very helpful.
I am glad you found this useful!!
😮😮😮Thank you so much for this. I have been so confused for so long on what it is and how to identify it. Your video is very educational
Thank you for watching Jennifer!
Glad to find this channel … no bs just the facts! Love it
Crazy amounts of wild lettuce here in SoCal …
Subbed!
Thank you so much. I do not like videos where you have to listen to 5 minutes of nothing only to get a tidbit of info so I will never do it to my subscribers. Thanks for subscribing - I am grateful!
Absolutely wonderful video! I've been watching a young plant in our back yard that I'm now thinking may be lactuca because of the spiny midrib.
Thank you so much for watching!!
I’m glad I saw this because I think I have wild lettuce but now I think it’s sow thistle. And I was going to make a little tincture. I don’t want to be messing with the wrong plant . That could go wrong .
Thank you. I have both these plants in my yard and didn't know what either one was.👍
You are most welcome!!!
You have the easiest to understand video Best Best ever info
Oh my I am touched! Thank you for being here!!
Lady you just saved me a whole bunch of time and effort! Thanks 🙏
You are most welcome my friend!
Awesome, perfect, simple, no n.s. just straight to the point 👍 beautiful thank you 🙏
*I meant no b.s. lol thanks again 👍
Thanks Lisa and thank you for watching!!
Thanks for all the information didn't know there was a plant that looks like wild cabbage
I am in Australia and this was really interesting. Thank you
Thank you so much for watching!!
Fantastic comparison we have the very tall blue flower version and it's 6ft tall...uk
Lactuca biennis - - it does grow tall!!!
But is also true that people are using it without harm. It is all about dosage, that is difficult to calculate because every plant has its own different percentage of compounds, given by the different area and soil. Someone suggested to start just with a drop and go on little by little until found the right dosage. I think that is the wisest thing to do, not to ditch the usage of the herb.
If I accidentally got one mixed into my opiod lettuce what would it do. ?😂
Very informative. Well done video. Great comparison.
However, since it’s the first wild edible video I’ve stumbled across and I’m not familiar with the uses of the plants, I don’t know if they are both good, both bad, one is good and the other is bad so I don’t know how to file it in my brain as I watch it. A sentence or two at the beginning telling that would have been helpful. At around the 9:30 minute marker something is said about one being great in the kitchen, but I really needed that info in the first minute so I could memory peg it better.
I look forward to other videos from this channel cuz it’s been a mild interest of mine since I read an article in the 1990s called Eat Your Weedies.
Thank you for making this video!
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. I am glad you are here!
Just came across this channel. Great video! I had been wondering the difference .
Hello Ann - so glad you found my channel! Thank you for your kind words!
Great video explaining the difference!
Thank you so much!
Wow! Such a simple video but Soooo informative. Not to much information, just enough
I am so glad you liked it. I am not one of those RUclipsrs who drag things out - I don't like watching vids of those who waste time so I strive not to do that myself!
I definitely have Wild Lettuce because the plants in my garden are prickly!
We eat them all. We ate a bunch for Passover n had no pain at all. We had no complications at all. We are it almost daily in the garden.
Always remember that we can eat something and not have any reactions. Over time, depending on what we are eating, there may be some constituents in it that stealthily harm the kidneys or another organ - especially if someone is at the onset of kidney disease and is unaware.
A wonderful presentation, clear and serene. I have thistles of various species. I'm new to your site, looking forward to learn more. Thank you.
This was a nice, clear informative video. Good job!
Thank you Sandy and I am glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you very much, this was exactly what I was looking for.
You are most welcome!
Good information to to identify those two plants .show us there uses . and how eat them
In time!!
Wonderful video!! Thank you so much. Cud you do more of these?
More are in the works! And thank you for your kind words!!
That was great. Grateful for your teaching.
Thank you and I am grateful for your support!
Yes thank you Wayne for suggesting🙌 Happy to find & I sub her platform as I enjoyed her over all teaching. I grew up going to Canada for my summers, relatives. I still love Canadians. Love to all 💚💙
Hallelujah, Praise God, i have a truck box full of wild lettuce.... i was foraging, and not sure , so i brought it all home for verification.... I am specifically finding it for medicinal uses.... couldn't be happier, Thank you, Thank you , great vid.
Thank you so much for watching!
WOW!!!! GREAT video!!! The comparison is HUGELY helpful
Very interesting information
I was just wondering yesterday how to know this!! Thanks.
You are most welcome Catherine!!
Thank You Very Much!!! That was very informative and just what I needed! And thank you Wayne as well! 😊
Toni, thank you for your very kind words! And thank YOU for watching!
Wow! Thank you, I have both of those in my yard, and I didn't know the difference. 👍
You're welcome Heidi!!
Excellent help with Identification. We need more look a like content.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Thank you William for watching - I truly appreciate it!
Thank you for making this.
You are welcome and thank you for watching!!
I'm confused. If the wild lettuce can cause heath problems, why would anyone chance it? 'Wish more info on the foraging of each would have been explained but it was a great, visual identification video. Thank you.
Using plants to heal in several ways is no different than taking over-the-counter or prescription drugs. I've seen commercials about some drugs that preach how good it works but most of the commercial tells you a massive list of side effects - including death! Not even in herbalism can anything be guaranteed to work without side effects.
Where I'm from.. we eat them as salad with dinner/lunch but without dressing. My culture is fond of bitter herbs n vegs.
Bitter has been shown to be better for our liver!!
Thank you both for this videoi was just out on a night walk and I love to forage and or study what I come across, I bought some wild lettuce seeds but didn't grow them this year and just found a sow thistle tonight, I was thinking out was the wild lettuce version as they seem to be more rounded at the tip I think we've got some prikley wild lettuce that has bred with sow thistle
Thank you for the great and clear explanation ❤
You're welcome!
Good girl for your cautions
Thank you for making this video those two are all over my yard and confused me.
You are welcome!!
Oh wow, thanks so much! I got a lot of sow thistle I thought was wild lettuce.
Excellent! Thank you very much! I do believe I have a lot of sow thistle and dandelions😍
Thank you for your nice words!
Thanks so much for showing this..helpful video for me
I am so glad you found this helpful! And thank you for watching!
Excellent! Thank you (and Wayne). 💚
Excellent information.
Just subbed and looking forward to learning more!
I totally appreciate you being here and thank you!
Prickly lettuce grows here in PA in fields and all over the USA. I even found it in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. So... I think it spread lol
It likes to share its wealth!!!
thank you for this video. its been hard to get quality information. and the important danger warning. to many think its a plant so its safe. its like they completely forget that some plants like night shade is very dangerous. Yes people need to do their research and talk to their doctor. if their doctor throws a fit about natural medicine its time to look for a new doctor that wont do that.
Thank you for being here and yes....our medical doctors should respect our choice for health care.
Thank you for this wonderful Vadim! Im not sure if I missed it. Is sow thistle more edible than wild lettuce?
Thanks for your kind words. In my opinion, I feel sow thistle is better tasting that wild lettuce.
Lactuca verosa has been a weed in Western Kentucky as long as I can remember of 71 years. It's a wonderful, much safer option to heavy prescription pain killers.
This is so educational.... Thank you!
Thank you for your kind words - you are most welcome!
Your clarifications and definition s with visual clarity are what makes healthier lives. You and your work really matter. I hope you will continue to burst news as often as nature provides. This land is very greatfull for your genuine teachings....
@@d.deckert6634 I am so incredibly touched - thank you. I have a few projects on the go right now - stay tuned!
Thank you made it easy to no the difference
Thank you for sharing your in-depth knowledge.
And thank you for being here!
EXCELLENT JOB❤
Thank you. I have dandelion, sow thistle, and wild lettuce in my yard. However, I thought they're all dandelions until recently 😂
You are most welcome and thank YOU for watching!!!
Thank you my sister!
You are most welcome!