Tag: Pistia stratiotes

While water lettuce ($Pistia stratiotes$) has been used as a famine food in some parts of the world, its edibility is highly controversial. So, is water lettuce good for health, or is it a dangerous plant best left alone?

Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes), an aquatic perennial, is often confused with edible garden vegetables due to its rosette shape and common name. While it is technically a herbaceous plant, this classification refers to its structure, not its use as a culinary or medicinal herb.

While some historical accounts mention it being used as a famine food, ingesting raw water lettuce can cause severe irritation due to calcium oxalate crystals. Is water lettuce good to eat today, and what are the crucial safety considerations for handling this plant?

According to the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, water lettuce possesses medium severity poison characteristics. Water lettuce is not edible for humans primarily because its tissues are loaded with microscopic, razor-sharp calcium oxalate crystals, which cause immediate and painful irritation upon ingestion.