NaPoWriMo Forager’s Lot

The Forager’s Lot

The important thing
about a plant is,
is it edible or not?

Is it miner’s lettuce
or is it spurge?

a delightful salad
or precursor to a dirge?

Since forager, I am not;
I’ll leave it in its spot.
Sheri Edwards
National Poetry Month
4/12/26

a plant that could be edible miners lettuce or poisonous spurge and a poem from the post; photo and poetry by Sheri Edwards

We’ve been watching this little plant grow. According to my plant ID app it could be edible miner’s lettuce or very poisonous spurge. After researching it, I’m still not sure.

What I did learn is that miner’s lettuce is a succulent, the stem of which goes right through the center of that rounded leaf. The most important thing is that it has clear/watery fluids in its stem and is not sticky. It also has white to pink flowers.

I also learned that spurge plants can also be succulents, so that’s not a helpful differentiator. But spurge plants have sticky, milky, white liquids in the stem. It’s flowers are usually yellow.

The problem is that there are many varieties of both species. For your own research, take a look at Burke Herbarium / University of Washington:

We’ll keep watching it every day on our walks with the dog.