Miner's Lettuce

Description:

*Also called Siberian Miner’s Lettuce, Indian Lettuce, or Candy Flower. This plant is one of those things in life that you can go for years without noticing, and then find it hard to imagine how you could have missed it. It is hard to hike anywhere around here in the Spring without coming across it. The trail up to Coyote Peak is thick with it between late February and May. It appears first in the sunlit areas, but the best stands are under shade. As the days get hotter, the leaves turn a deep red color as they dry out. Once you get to know it, you will begin to notice the first shoots as early as December, soon after the first heavy rains. The short days of winter will suddenly be more tolerable as the sight of those first shoots reassure you that Spring is on its way. It is generally reported that the miners during the California gold rush in the middle 1800s, who ate these plants to prevent scurvy, learned of their virtues first from the local Indians. Miner's lettuce, a native winter annual broadleaf plant, is part of a complex of species and subspecies with slightly varying characteristics. It is found throughout California (except for the lower desert areas) to about 6600 feet (2000 m). Miner’s lettuce inhabits natural plant communities, agricultural land, and urban areas, with a preference for cool, damp conditions. It dries up with the onset of hot spring weather. Although the leaves are sometimes cultivated or collected for salad greens, occasionally it accumulates soluble oxalates, which can be toxic when ingested..

Habitat:

Chaparral, oak, woodlands, forests, and coastal sage scrub, agronomic and vegetable crop fields, orchards, vineyards, gardens, yards, and other disturbed sites in moist and shady soils..

Notes:

Lettuce? Yes, you can eat it--raw in salads or boiled like spinach. Early settlers and Indians collected and ate it. It is said that California Indians used to place it by red ant hills to pick up formic acid as a dressing. A laxative is prepared by making a tea from the leaves; however, this tea should be taken in moderation. For sore throats, an infusion of the leaves and stems is taken. To treat rheumatism, a poultice is made of the leaves and stems and applied. A mild wash for sore eyes may be made using the juice of the stems. ****Medicinal Uses****The leaves may be eaten raw or cooked. Palsingili may be picked in the Spring before the flowers appear, or it can be eaten after having removed the flowers. The roots are also eaten raw, and are considered very nutritious. The tiny bulbs may be eaten raw or roasted. Palsingili's small black seeds may be cracked open and eaten. In addition, palsingili juice is used as an appetite restorer.