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Sea lettuce

Ulva lactuca

Also called Broadleaf Sea Lettuce

Sea lettuce
Photo: W.carter, CC0

Sea lettuce is a thin, flat green seaweed that grows attached to rocks and other algae in shallow seawater. It is grown and harvested from the sea, not as a garden plant, and is eaten in some regions.

Family
Ulvaceae (Ulv family)
Water
Grows submerged in seawater; it needs no watering.
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Edible
Yes, some parts

About

Ulva lactuca, also known by the common name sea lettuce or broadleaf sea lettuce, is an edible green alga in the family Ulvaceae. It is the type species of the genus Ulva. A synonym is U. fenestrata, referring to its "windowed" or "holed" appearance.

Where it grows

The distribution is worldwide: Europe, North America (west and east coasts), Central America, Caribbean Islands, South America, Africa, Indian Ocean Islands, South-west Asia, China, Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand.

Uses

In Scotland, U. lactuca is used in soups and salads. In Hawaiʻi, U. lactuca is also called limu pālahala and eaten in different ways: mixed with other algae, salted and served with raw fish, boiled in water and served as a soup, or served with chili pepper, onions, soy sauce and sugar.

Other Ulva plants

Gutweed · Green String Lettuce · Ulva paschima · Sea lettuce

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ulva lactuca by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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