Edible?

[Blakem]

I put betty out in the backyard yesterday in an area that is about to be landscaped. There are a ton of dandelions in there and I didn't let grass get fertilized this year yet. She spent about an hour out there eating her heart out. Schmeckleboy henry didn't eat much and mostly wanted to bake in the sun.

This made me laugh! I wish he had enjoyed them that much. He took 3 bites and was over it.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Bump - I finally identified this plant, partly for my own curiosity, partly for the tortoises, and partly for my work. It's a wild lettuce, specifically prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola):

http://www.invasive.org/weedcd/species/5918.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactuca_serriola

When they first emerge, their leaves are somewhat dandelion-like, but as the plant matures, it gets taller and firmer, and it's leaves enlarge. This species ultimately develops small yellow flowers, which to go fuzz (like dandelions), but this plant grows to be 5-6 feet tall!

As I mentioned, it is a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae), and is safe to eat; indeed, it is in the same genus as domestic lettuce (Lactuca sativa), named for their milky sap, or latex, at least in uncultivated varieties.

 

[JoesMum]

That makes sense... it does look like a lettuce plant that's gone to seed

 

[Blakem]

Well thank you very much for finding out for sure. My Russian hasn't shown anymore interest in that plant. But, I do see them often. Thanks again.

 

[JoesMum]

The lettuces we eat get very bitter when they go to seed and Joe won't eat them. Your Russian will probably be more interested in the young plant than when it's gone tall like this.