Lettuce
Lactuca sativa
Botanical family: Asteraceae
Lactuca sativa, a lettuce of garden origin, probably derived from wild lettuce (Lactuca serriola). It quickly runs to seed in dry weather: in summer it is sown in partial shade, and staggered sowings prolong the harvest. Sources: Tela Botanica, “Lactuca sativa L.” (Coste's flora); Plants For A Future, “Lactuca sativa”.
Partial shade
Cool, humus-rich
Regular
Annual: winter lettuces overwinter under cover (greenhouse, cold frame or cloche)
Role in permaculture
Good companions
Fix nitrogen from the air (legumes)
Attract pollinators and beneficial insects
Trap plants (variable effect, need watching)
Poor companions
Same family: shared diseases and pests
Allelopathy, reputed or observed: may slow some neighbours
Insects attracted or useful
Known pests & diseases
Pests and diseases that commonly affect this plant, tap to learn how to recognise and manage them.
Seasons & availability
Lettuces from spring to autumn; lamb's lettuce and chicory take over in winter.
Available: April, May, June, July, August, September, October.
Guidance for the oceanic / temperate climate; it may vary with your region, altitude, exposure and growing method.
Sources
- RHS, « How to Grow Lettuce » (rhs.org.uk/vegetables/lettuce/grow-your-own)
- Le Biau Germe, « Salades » (biaugerme.com/semences/potageres/legumes-feuille/salades)
Nutritional & medicinal properties
For educational purposes. Not a substitute for medical advice. Effects depend on the form, the dose and personal context.
Precautions & contraindications
Nutritional interest varies according to the type of lettuce.
Family behaviour: Asteraceae
In general, Asteraceae are a family rich in flowers appreciated by pollinators and beneficials (pot marigold, yarrow, chamomile). It is very scattered, from the mildest lettuce to the allelopathic sunflower.
Understanding families means learning one rule per family rather than every pairing one by one. Learn more →
Species & varieties
The best-known species and varieties in France.
Common varieties
Voices of peoples
Paraphrases attributed to their documented sources. Never an invented quote.
The Greek poets Callimachus, Eubulus, and Nicander of Colophon, reported by Athenaeus of Naucratis · The Greek world, from the 3rd century BC (the poets cited) to the 2nd–3rd century AD (Athenaeus of Naucratis)
Athenaeus of Naucratis reports an older Greek poetic tradition: according to Callimachus and Eubulus, Aphrodite laid her dying lover Adonis in a bed of lettuces; according to Nicander of Colophon, it was there that Adonis had taken refuge from the boar. From this motif arose an allegorical reading widespread in antiquity, making lettuce a plant that cools male ardour to the point of impotence. What is attested is this literary tradition transmitted by Athenaeus, who cites older authors; the anaphrodisiac effect ascribed to lettuce, for its part, belongs to ancient belief and not to fact.
Athénée de Naucratis, Deipnosophistes, livre II (section 69), citant Callimaque, Eubule et Nicandre de Colophon ; tradition analysée par Marcel Detienne, Les Jardins d'Adonis (1972).
The mythological anecdote is solidly attested in Greek literature, but the idea that lettuce causes impotence is an ancient interpretation: it is under no circumstances to be taken up as a physiological fact or as health advice. An adult register, handled here with tact, without essentialising Greek thought or turning an allegory into a property of the plant.