Prickly lettuce??

[AudraL]

Hi everyone- so the identification for this in my iPhone says it is prickly lettuce. I found a few threads on the forum that says it's edible and safe, however on the tortoise table it says it is toxic?? Can someone please clarify?

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

The tortoise table is a bit overly cautios about his plant in my opnion. Prickly lettuce does produce latex containing oxalic acid but in my opnion it can be fed as a part of a varied diet. (See this thread https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/can-anyone-id-these-weeds.70296/ message #6).

 

[SinLA]

Gosh, I thought that was a variant of dandelion, good to know!

 

[Tom]

Hi everyone- so the identification for this in my iPhone says it is prickly lettuce. I found a few threads on the forum that says it's edible and safe, however on the tortoise table it says it is toxic?? Can someone please clarify?

If that stuff was toxic, all my tortoises would be dead. I feed lots of that stuff to them every year. I mix it in with other greens for several months a year here during our rainy season whenever I can find it.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome from another Soyhern California member!

It is a chicory so yes, it is a dandelion relative.

It can get bitter in the heat but if your tortoise will eat it's perfectly fine. If you're lucky your tortoise will eat some of the stem; so much fiber!