Branch Lettuce: A Taste of AppalachIAn Spring

At the end of every dragging, gray Appalachian winter, those of us who live in the high country long for the rush of green, verdant warmth that comes with the mountain spring. The Lettuceleaf Saxifrage (Micranthes micranthidifolia), known locally as “branch lettuce,” is one of the first signs (and delicacies) of spring, named for a semiaquatic love for small creeks and streams with crystal-clear, cascading water.