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Prefers cool, damp conditions.
February/May - June
40 cms.
The common name miner's lettuce refers to its use by California Gold
Rush miners who ate it to get their vitamin C to prevent scurvy. It can
be eaten as a leaf vegetable. Most commonly it is eaten raw in salads,
but it is not quite as delicate as other lettuce. Sometimes it is
boiled like spinach, which it resembles in taste.
It is widely naturalized in western Europe. It was introduced there in
the eighteenth century, possibly by the naturalist Archibald Menzies,
who brought it to Kew Gardens in 1794.
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