Lettuce

Scientific Name:  Lactuca

Family:  Compositae

Iceburg Lettuce		Boston Lettuce
	Romaine Lettuce
Green Leaf Lettuce		Red Leaf Lettuce

The cultivated Lettuces, perhaps the plants most widely used in salads (to such a degree that in some countries salad and lettuce have become synonymous), belong to the Compositae (daisy or thistle family) and to the genus Lactuca.  The majority of botanists agree that the garden lettuce is a variety (sativa) of the species Lactuca scariola which is found in the wild state in Asia, Europe, and northern Africa, and has become naturalized n North America and the Argentine.  Some authorities believe that Lactuca sativa originated from Lactuca scariola; others maintain that this variety is native to a mountain region in Siberia where it is said to grow wild.   Whatever the case, lettuce has been cultivated since very early times and was known not only to the Greeks and Romans, but, even earlier, to the Chinese.  The Romans were familiar with several different forms that were mentioned by Pliny and Columella, while the authorities of the Dark Ages and of the Renaissance seem to have known fewer forms.  Lettuce was introduced from Italy to France and in the sixteenth century the "Roman" lettuce (romaine, cos) arrived in England.  At least three principal forms are recognized: head or cabbage lettuce (var:capitata), cos or romaine (var:longifolia), and the curled or leaf lettuce with leaves somewhat deeply incised, belonging, according to some botanists, to the varieties crispa and palmata.  Head lettuce comes in many forms.  The typical round head is a large bud, the development of which is helped considerably by transplanting.   Lettuce is primarily a salad plant.  It is highly refreshing and contains several vitamins, such as vitamin A, riboflavin, thiamin, and above all, vitamin C.   Its calorific value is extremely low, its composition being mostly water, 1% protein, only traces of fats, and 2 - 3% carbohydrates.  One of the lesser known but highly recommended uses of lettuce is in the preparation of vegetable or minestroni soups, the addition of lettuce adding a very delicate flavor.  The various seed companies throughout the world list more than fifty cultivars of garden lettuce.  Not all of them are equally adapted to all areas, and hence cultivars should be selected for a particular region.  Leaf lettuce varieties are not common in commercial markets but are very popular with the home gardener.  They are easier to grow, and do well during hot weather, supplying leaf lettuce for salads throughout the summer.  Head lettuce varieties:  Butter-head types: Buttercrunch, Bibb, Summer Bibb, White Boston, Dark Green Boston and Matchless; Crisp-head (Iceberg) types: Great Lakes, Iceberg, Imperial 44, Mesa 659, Ithaca and Fulton.  Leaf or curly varieties:  Grand Rapids, Green Ice, Salad Bowl, Oak Leaf, Ruby, Slobolt and Greenhart.  Romaine varieties:  Cos, Parris Island, Paris White, Dark Green Cos and Mammoth Giant White.  [Bianchini, Francesco, Corbetta, Francesco, Pistoia, Marilena, The Complete Book of Fruits and Vegetables, United States Translation: Crown Publishers, New York, 1976; Originally published in Italy as I Frutti della Terra, Arnoldo Mondadori Publisher, Italy, 1973]

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