Korean Lettuce

Korean Lettuce is Godeulppaegi Village¡¯s biggest source of income as well as a major specialty.

It is called Sseunnamul or Ssinnamul.  North Korea calls it Jondume Godeulppaegi or Jom Godeulppaegi.  In Oriental Medicine, it is called Yaksacho.

It grows on the fields across Korea and survives for two years.  It grows about knee-high and its leaves are whiter on the front surface.  The leaves grow out of the stems and their bottom part covers the stem.  The leaves also become smaller toward the top of the stem.  The flower is a capitulum and yellow in color.  Several blossoms hang at the end of the stem in no specific order.

About 20 ray flowers hang on one capitulum.  Ray flowers look like petals, but they are actually flowers themselves.   Several ray flowers make up one capitulum.  The flowers bloom from spring until the end of summer.  

Its fruit is a type of achene that is shaped like a cone in black color.

Korean lettuce bears seeds at the end of summer.  As soon as the seeds fall on the ground, they quickly lay roots and sprout.

In winter, young roots are dug up with the sprouts to be seasoned or to make Kimchi.  

In folk medicine, every part of the plant is used to make medicine.

If few roots are lucky enough to be left unpicked throughout the winter, they start to grow again in the following spring.

When fully grown, the roots become too hard and the stems and leaves become too chewy to be eaten.

They are usually gathered and distributed between July and November.