Lettuce
Head lettuce
Head lettuce: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
Heading lettuce belongs to Lactuca sativa in the Asteraceae family. The name describes lettuces whose leaves gather around a centre to form a head. It does not identify one cultivar: size, colour and texture depend on the variety. Before flowering, the leafy outline is low, with a centre more closely packed than the outer leaves.Butterhead types generally have tender, flexible leaves and a mild flavour. Crisper forms, including icebergs, have firmer leaves and denser heads. Romaine provides another outline, upright and elongated, with a crunchy central rib. These differences help you choose texture and size without assigning one variety's qualities to every heading lettuce. 'Hollywood', for example, is a medium-sized iceberg with a dense, round head. 'Little Gem' is a compact romaine with a small crisp heart, illustrating another form of hearting lettuce.The colour palette is not limited to green. Some lettuces show red, purple or brown shades, while the…
