prickly lettuce

[matty]

first off i'm not sure if prickly lettuce is native - the way it grows up the highway here i could understand if it is an introduced pest, however a very interesting plant and would love to learn more if anyone has anything to share regarding experience with the plant, how to efficiently use it, extraction techniques of the latex.

thanks

[bℓσωηG]

got pics?

[matty]

sorry this thread is in the wrong section. definately introduced. I haven't got any pictures but there seem to be two main vrietys of lettuce growing down the highway, one has leaves similar to the one in this picture http://www.weeds.org.au/cgi-bin/weedident.cgi?tpl=plant.tpl&state=&s=&ibra=all&card=H75, and matches the description. the other type which is more common seems to be the same plant, except the leaves aren't wavy around the edge( wish i kne the technichall word but i don't) i will try and get a picture.

[bℓσωηG]

cool thanks ,that confirmed my suspicions of what that actually is ....as i see it growing as a weed here in the west alot also. not sure how youd actually extact the latex though, maybe just bleed the leaves and collect it up.

[matty]

after going for a drive today i realised it is pretty well everywhere at the moment, a friend pointed it out last week and since then i have seen lots. bleeding the plant and letting it dry in the sun was what the friend suggested and since i have read of making a tea out of 2 handfuls of fresh leaf, i just wonerdered if there were any other suggestions?

[t st tantra]

collecting the sap seems tedious.i found the effect of the plant mild but pleasantly sedative.simmering the whole plant in a little water,filtering,repeat,combine and reduce to a paste for oral or sublingul use.extracting the paste with alcohol is said to give an improved product.

t s t .

[inpsyght]

.

Edited February 7, 2012 by inpsyght

[matty]

thanks for sharing, i even found some in my back yard! with the water extraction how much was a dose?

[DarkSpark]

to get the most out of it i try to pinch a branch at the base and tear downwards... this will reveal a fair bit of "flesh" and subsequently milk. As doing this to most stems will fuck the plant up completely don't do it if you wanna keep it growing... Also, as mentioned above snap the stem off in 2-3cm increments and allow to bleed. I personally like to use 4-5 razorblades liquid nails'd to a piece of timber to make a crapload of cuts at once and come back an hour or so later to collect... The main reaosn for coming back in an hour is so i can get around and massacre some more before coming back to the first one, as well as a smoke break and so on :D

there are a few different types around my area i might take a look at some and get some piccys today for identification purposes for both me (for the ones i dont know) and everyone else (for the ones i do))

edit: from what i have found personally and in reports online you may get sharp muscle pains by using the whole plant whereas the extract seems to, for the most part, not get this crappy side effect. Not too sure why. anywho

Edited March 28, 2010 by DarkSpark

[mud]

I like it.

Made some serriola extract a couple of weeks ago.

Whole plant,

chopped with shears

and simmered down to a thick green goo.

I used matter from large plants, just about to flower..

1 gram would definitely make you sleepy and relaxed

2-3 grams would near knock me out. In tea, this is.

Some people sampled this to smoke,

placing a small popcorn on top of bong- and giving it heaps of heat.

A friend used it every day for 10 days though, in a tea, (over 1gram)

and claimed to get headaches.

[matty]

I tried a few different ways but my favourite was to strip a plant so that i had around 2 handfuls of leaf, boil it in a pot of water, strain the water and then boil it again, strain the water then throw away plant material, combine both seta of water and reduce, reduce, reduce - at the end it gets a bit bubbly and sticky so don't use your best pot is wise advice, either scrape off dried goop and smoke or add a tiny bit of water make into a paste and ingest. after this a pleasent experience was had, relaxed, grounding and connected, comfortable in your surroundings. good times. there is still heaps everywhere in the goulburn valley.