Miner's Lettuce Wild Edible Plant
Miner's Lettuce provides vitamin C, A and iron. It is called Miner's Lettuce because during the gold rush, miners would eat this plant to prevent scurvy.
Miner's Lettuce is an annual broadleaf plant that can be identified in part by its light green leaves that are round in shape. There are other plants such as dollar weed that fit this description but Miner's Lettuce can be singled out by the fact that the stem actually passes straight through the leaf. Further aiding with identification is the plant produces small white or pink flowers. These flowers grow around the center of a leaf. The flowers have five petals and bloom in late winter to early spring.
The plant itself is short. Usually not reaching above one foot in height.
It grows in moist, shady areas near deserts or in the mountains. Yeah, moist desert sounds strange, but microenvironments within a desert can hold these plants. Miner's Lettuce is common in Western Canada down through the U.S. and into in parts of Central America as well as in Cuba and Australia.
The Flowers, leaves and roots are edible. Young leaves can be consumed raw or boiled, whereas, older leaves would need to be boiled.
