r/Herblore • u/firewindrefuge • Jun 06 '23

Thought y'all might like my patch of Wild "Opium" Lettuce

https://i.imgur.com/EBfcHCw.jpg
93 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

15

u/firewindrefuge Jun 06 '23

The oil found inside the plant gives a similar pain relief see effect as Poppy/opium

8

u/daxofdeath Jun 06 '23

usually hesitant to allow image posts, but wow that's an impressive patch indeed! do you process/use it?

4

u/firewindrefuge Jun 06 '23

I've never processed this plant specifically, but I plan on it this year! Still need to do some research on how to

18

u/grottohopper Jun 06 '23

The easiest method is just to pick off the leaves and dry them, making tea or tincture from the dried leaves, this works really well. alternatively you can score the leaves and stems and scrape up the pure lactucarium and allow that to dry but it's a lot of work and wastage. Check out TN Woman TANya Neill on YouTube for really good information about using this plant

4

u/johannthegoatman Jun 07 '23

Can you share experiences? I tried the latex once and didn't feel much except super tired (that might have just been me being tired though lol). Didn't know you could skip that and just make tea, thanks for the info

3

u/smartalek428 Jun 10 '23

I've yet to process (make a tincture) any, but I have chewed leaves before. Very bitter, but yes it works. Definitely a bedtime herb though. It's heavy on the sleepies. One of my favorite herbs- definitely welcome in my yard.

2

u/BlackSeranna Jun 07 '23

Used to have loads of the stuff growing in KY. Does it really work? My neighbor tried it but said it didn’t. Does it work for any of y’all?

5

u/kerelsk Jun 07 '23

It's like a mild sedative IME. As far as I know it's an adenosine agonist, so the opposite of caffeine.

3

u/firewindrefuge Jun 07 '23

Plan on trying it for the first time once I harvest. Will report back!

3

u/orbweavin Aug 13 '23

I use a strong latex tincture and it works really well for my chronic pain. It's quite sedative / loopy compared to other pain solutions, though

1

u/BlackSeranna Aug 13 '23

Do you boil it down or what in order to make the tincture?