**LETTUCE, LACTUCA SATIVA, SAANG CHOY, SALAD PATTQA, SAYUR SALAT, PAK KARD HOM**

Excerpts from Bender, Arnold E. 1990. Dictionary of Nutrition and Food Technology. Butterworths, Boston.

Leaves of the plant Lactuca sativa. Not a very valuable food, the vitamin C is only one-seventh of that of cabbage. Analysis per 100 g: protein 0.9 g, fat 0.1 g kcal 10 (0.04 MJ), Ca 17 mg, Fe 0.3 mg, carotene 40 ug, vitamin B1 0.03 mg, vitamin B2 0.06 mg, nicotinic acid 0.1 mg, vitamin C 5 mg.

Excerpts from Passmore, Jacki. 1991. The Encyclopedia of Asian Food and Cooking. Hearst Books, New York.

Chinese, or Oriental, lettuce has a small head of long, flat loose leaves, similar to a cos (romaine). The edges may be jagged or smooth. It is used extensively in salads in Vietnam, laos and Thailand. Chinese rarely eat lettuce raw, preferring to cook it by blanching in boiling water with a little oil added to prevent it turning brown. They serve it with an oyster sauce or crab meat dressing, or make it into a soup with shreds of fish. The Chinese name for lettuce is a homonym - saang meaning first or fresh, the sound of choy meaning either money or vegetable, depending on the tone. It is, then, the auspicious lettuce that is offe3red to the dragon or lion at Lunar New Year celebrations, and it is also served at special celebrations. Saang choy bow is a popular dish in which finely diced pigeon meat, stir-fried with spices and lap cheong (Chinese sausage), is wrapped into tasty bite-size parcels in crisp lettuce leaves. Also known as saang choy (China); salad patta (India); sayur salat (Malaysia); pak kard hom (Thailand).

Garrett, Theodore Francis (edited by). 1898. the Encyclopedia of Practical Cookery. L. Upcott Gill, 170, Strand, W.C. London. Vol. II

for table purposes is a leaf (Lactuca sativa).

Grimes, William. 2004. Eating Your Worlds. Oxford University Press.

is a cultivated plant of the daisy family, with edible leaves that are a usual ingredient of salads. Many varieties of lettuce have been developed with a range of form, texture, and color. -
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French letues, laitues, plural of laitue, from Latin lactuca, from lac, lact- 'milk' (because of its milky juice).

Excerpts from Hawkes, Alex D. 1968. A World of Vegetable Cookery. Simon and Schuster, New York.

Lettuce as we know it has been cultivated for well more than two thousand years. Botanists call the basic plant Lactuca sativa, and because of its structure place it in the Daisy Family. It is not known in the wild, but presumably comes from another species indigenous to Asia.

In this country, we find several basic kinds of Lettuce, including Head, Leaf, Iceberg, Romaine, and the like. Within each of these categories we find countless subtle variations, ranging from soft and buttery in texture to firm and crisp.

UNITED FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE ASSOCIATION, 727 N. Washington, Alexandria, VA 22314
OCTOBER 1970 original author R. A. SEELIG scanned and edited by ZoeAnn Holmes

All domesticated varieties o. Linnaeus). The genus Lactuca Compositae, which also includes: Helianthus, sunflower; Sonchus, sowthistle; Taraxacum, dandelion; Cichorium, endive; Tragopogon, salsify; and Cynara, artichoke. Species of Lactuca occur all over the world. "Cultivated lettuce is an annual plant with panicled heads of yellow flowers.

From the consumer's viewpoint, examination of a particular head of lettuce for quality is more useful than knowing the grade of the lot it came in. "Look for: Signs of freshness in lettuce. For Iceberg lettuce and romaine, the leaves should be crisp. Other lettuce types will have a softer texture, but leaves should not be wilted. Look for a good, bright colorÒin most varieties, medium to light green. Avoid: Heads of Iceberg type which are very hard and which lack green color (signs of over-maturity). Such heads sometimes develop discoloration in the center of the leaves (the midribs) and may have a less attractive flavor. Also avoid heads with irregular shapes and hard bumps on top, which indicates the presence of overgrown central stems. Check the lettuce for tipburn, a tan or brown area (dead tissue) around the margins of the leaves. Look for tipburn on the edges of the hard leaves. Slight discoloration of the outer or wrapper leaves will usually not hurt the quality of the lettuce, but serious discoloration or soft decay definitely should be avoided."

Hedrick, U.P. editor. 1919. Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants. Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year 1919 II. Albany, J.B Lyon Company, State Printers. [References Available]

LACTUCA SCARIOLA, LETTUCE, PRICKLY LETTUCE

Is a plant of Europe and the Orient. Lettuce, the best of all salad plants, as a cultivated plant has great antiquity. It is evident, by an ancedote related by Herodotus, that lettuce appeared at the royal tables of the Persian kings about 550 B.C. Its medicinal properties as a food-plant were noted by Hippocrates, 430 B.C.; it was praised by Aristotle, 356 B.C.; the species was described by Theophrastus, 322 B.C., and Dioscorides, 60 A.D.; and was mentioned by Galen, 164 A.D., who gives the idea of very general use. Among the Romans, lettuce was very popular. Columella, A.D. 42, describes the Caecilian, Cappadocian, Cyprian and Tartesan. Pliny, A.D. 79, enumerates the Alba, Caecilian, Cappadocian, crispa, graeca, Laconicon, Nigra, Purpurea and Rubens. Palladius, 210 A.D., implies varieties and mentions the process of blanching. Martial, A.D. 101, gives to the lettuces of Cappadocia the term viles, or cheap, implying abundance. In China, its presence can be identified in the fifth century. In England, Chaucer, about 1340, uses the word in his prologue, "well loved he garlic, onions and lettuce," and lettuce is likewise mentioned by turner, 1538, who spells the word lettuse. It is mentioned by Peter Martyr, 1494, as cultivated on Isabela Island. In 1565, Benzoni speaks of lettuce as abounding in Hayti. In 1647, Nieuhoff saw it cultivated in Brazil. In 1806, McMahon enumerates for American gardens 16 sorts. In 1828, Thorburn's seed catalog offered 13 kinds, and in 1881, 23 kinds.

In the report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Stateion for 1885, 87 varieties are described with 585 names of synonyms. Vilmorin describes, 1883, one hundred and thirteen kinds as distinct. The numbers of varieties named by various writers at various times are as follows: For France, in 1612, six; in 1690, twenty-one; in 1828, forty; in 1883, one hundred and thirteen. For Holland, in 1720, forty-seven. For England, in 1597, six; in 1629, nine; in 1726, nine; in 1763, fifteen; in 1765, eighteen; in 1807, fourteen. For Americ, in 1806, sixteen; in 1885, eighty-seven.

The cabbage and cos lettuces are the sorts now principally grown but various other kinds, such as the curled, are frequently, and the sharp-leaved and oak-leaved are occasionally grown as novelities. In these lettuces there can be offered only the synonymy of a few of the varieties now known-those which indicate the antiquity of our cultivated types.

I.

THE LANCELOATE-LEAVED TYPE

Lactuca longifolia. Bauh. Phytopinat 200. 1596.
Lattuga franzese. Dur. C. 244. 1617. Cum ic.
Lactuca foli oblongo acuto. bauh. Pin. 125. 1623. Prod. 60. 1671.
Lactuca longo at valde angusto folio. Bauh J. 2: 999. 1651; chabr. 313. 1677.
Deer Tongue. Greg. 1883.
II.

THE COS TYPE.

Pena and Lobel, 1570, say that this form is but rarely grown in France and Germany, although common in the gardens of Italy; and Heuze says it was brought from Rome to France by Rabelais in 1537.

Lactuca intybacea. Lombard lettuce Ger. 240. 1597.
Lactuca foliis endivae. Matth. Op. 399.l 1598.
Lactuca Romana longa dulcis. Bauh. J. 2: 998. 1651. Chabr. 313. 1677.
La Romaine Jard. Solit. 1612.
Romaines. Vilm. 307. 1883.

We can reasonably believe the lettuce of Camerarius to be very close to the Florence Cos. The Lombard lettuce was grown as a sport in the garden of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station in 1886, and the figures by Bauhin and Chabraeus may well be the Paris Cos. It is not to be understood, however, that these figures represent the improved forms of our present culture but the prototypes from which our plants have appeared, as shown not only be resemblance of leaf-form but through the study of variables in the garden. Ray, 1686, describes the Cos as having light green and dark green varieties, and these, as well as the Spotted Cos, are indicated by Bauhin in 1623.

III.

HEADED LETTUCE.

A. This is the sort commonly grown, and the figures given in the sixteenth century indicate that the heading habit was even then firmly established. We have the following synonyms to offer, premising that types are referred to: Luctuca crispa. Matth. 264. 1554; Pin. 195. 1561.
Lattuga. Cast. Dur. 243. 1617.
La royale? Le Jard. Solit. 1612. Quintyne 1690.
Laitue Blonde de Berlin syn. Laitue royale. 295. 1884.
Berlin.
B.Lactuca sativa sessilis sive capitata. Lob. Icon. I: 242. 1591.
Lactuca capitata. Dod 645. 1616.
Very Early Dwarf Green.
C.-Lactuca. Cam. Epit. 298. 1586.
Lactuca capitata. Germ 240. 1597.
Lactuca crispa. Matth. 399. 1598.
Batavians. Vilm. 1883.
D.-Lattich. Roezl. 167. 1550. Green Fringed.

The last identification is from the appearance of the young plant. The old plant is remarkably different, forming a true rosette.

IV.

CUTTING AND MISCELLAENOUS.

A. - Lactuca crispa altera Ger. 240. 1597.
Lactuca crispa et tenuiter dissecta. Bauh. J. 2: 1000. 1651.
Chabr. 314. 1677.
Curled Cutting.
B.-Lactuca foliis querci. Ray 219. 1686.
Oak-leaved. C.-Capitatum cum pluribus capitibus. Bauh. J. 2:998. 1651. Chabr. 313. 1677.
Egyptian Sprouting.

The minor variations which are now separated into varieties did not receive the same recongition in former times, the same variety name covering what now would be several varieties; thus, Quintyne, 1693, calls perpignans both a green and a pale form. Green, light green, dark green, red and spotted lettuces are named in the old botanies, hence we cannot assert any new types have appeared in modern culture.

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Compiled for Food Resource http://food.oregonstate.edu