Ommlettuce

Phrog Fucker

**Lettuce** (*Lactuca sativa*) is an annual plant of the daisy family, Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is

most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, such as soups, sandwiches and wraps; it can also be grilled. One variety, the '**woju'** (t:萵苣/s:莴苣), or asparagus lettuce (Celtuce), is grown for its stems, which are eaten either raw or cooked. In addition to its main use as a leafy green, it has also gathered religious and medicinal significance over centuries of human consumption. Europe and North America originally dominated the market for lettuce, but by the late 20th century the consumption of lettuce had spread throughout the world. World production of lettuce and chicory for calendar year 2017 was 27 million tonnes, 56% of which came from China.

Lettuce was originally farmed by the ancient Egyptians, who transformed it from a weed whose seeds were used to create oil into an important food crop raised for its succulent leaves and oil-rich seeds. Lettuce spread to the Greeks and Romans, the latter of whom gave it the name '**lactuca'**, from which the English *lettuce* is ultimately derived. By 50 AD, many types were described, and lettuce appeared often in medieval writings, including several herbals. The 16th through 18th centuries saw the development of many varieties in Europe, and by the mid-18th century cultivars were described that can still be found in gardens.

Generally grown as a hardy annual, lettuce is easily cultivated, although it requires relatively low temperatures to prevent it from flowering quickly. It can be plagued by numerous nutrient deficiencies, as well as insect and mammal pests, and fungal and bacterial diseases. *L. sativa* crosses easily within the species and with some other species within the genus *Lactuca*. Although this trait can be a problem to home gardeners who attempt to save seeds, biologists have used it to broaden the gene pool of cultivated lettuce varieties.

Lettuce is a rich source of vitamin K and vitamin A, and a moderate source of folate and iron. Contaminated lettuce is often a source of bacterial, viral, and parasitic outbreaks in humans, including *E. coli* and *Salmonella*.

## Hobbies

Most animals (humans and apes being exceptions) typically have only one mating position, but frogs now have seven known types of amplexus. In the most common method, the male grasps the female around the torso with his forelimbs and fertilizes the eggs as they emerge. The male often grabs the female well in advance of actual egg laying. Depending on species, mating pairs can remain clasped together for hours, days, even months.

Such a prolonged process makes life difficult for frogs, especially females, who must go about their day literally carrying around a male frog. To find out how difficult this is, researchers tied amplexing cane toads together. Then they “encouraged the females to move by gentle stimulation of the hindlegs with a rod.” Unsurprisingly, females had a more difficult time walking, swimming and feeding during amplexus. Males did not eat at all.

The whole mating process can be rough on male frogs as well. In many species, unpaired males will attempt to dislodge males from their chosen female. Columbian Spotted Frogs, for instance, engage in a mad scramble to get into grasping position. Once successful, mating frogs must still repel assaults from single males, while maintaining an unbreakable grip. A recent study found that successful males had much thicker forelimbs and enlarged “nuptial pads,” a portion of the hand that assists in gripping the female. Talk about sexual selection.

It is not always the male doing the grasping. In the Coqui, a small tree frog native to Puerto Rico, the male climbs the female’s back but does not grasp her. Instead he stays on her back, and after a period of prolonged inactivity, the female reaches her legs back to lock on top of the male’s legs. The position apparently aids in internal fertilization (most frogs fertilize externally).

That is really the heart of the matter: sexual positions facilitate successful reproduction. The exact benefit of the newly discovered position among Bombay night frogs is unknown, but it is likely connected to the swift streams where the frog lives. Moreover, specific positions may serve to ensure that species only mate with their own kind. Don’t know how to get it on? Wrong species! Each different position serves an evolutionary purpose. Romantic, isn’t it?