Lettuce
| Garden lettuce | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Lactuca sativa |
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa, Asteraceae) is a temperate plant grown for its leaves, which are used in salad, hamburgers, tacos, and several other dishes. It is most frequently eaten cold. There are many varieties, including:
- Iceberg (head lettuce)
- Red leaf
- Green leaf
- North Pole
- Romaine (also called Cos)
- Lamb's
- Radicchio
- Cobb (also called Boston)
A lettuce plant has a short stem initially, but when it blooms, the stem lengthens and branches, and it produces many flower heads that look like those of dandelions, but smaller. This is called "bolting". When grown to eat, lettuce is harvested before it bolts.
Some lettuces (especially iceberg) have been specifically bred to remove the bitterness from their leaves. These lettuces are have a high water content with very little nutrient value. The more bitter lettuces and the ones with pigmented leaves contain antioxidants.