Lettuce

Pliny the Elder described its different varieties, sowing times and beneficial properties. This Roman historian used to tell the famous anecdote about Octavian Augustus, who fell ill due to a severe liver infection and was showed no signs of getting better. He finally recovered after the doctor Antonio Musa prescribed lots of lettuce and thanked the doctor with a statue, a valuable gold ring and the rank of cavalier. (Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, XIX,38,125). At Borgoricco, Barduca grows the “blonde” variety, which is pale green and red.