tuft of lettuce

子供の読み物 "Stuart Little" からです。
Stuart tucked his skates into hid shirts, stepped gingerly onto a tuft of lettuce, and took a firm grip on Margalo's ankles.
"gingerly" も中々覚えられない単語ですが("gingerly"=OneLook Quick Definitions: with extreme care or delicacy ("They proceeded with gingerly footwork over the jagged stones") "tuft of lettuce" と言う表現に興味を覚えました。
"tuft" を辞書で見ると：
OneLook Quick Definitions:　a bunch of hair or feathers or growing grass
Dictionary.com:
・a bunch or cluster of small, usually soft and flexible parts, as feathers or hairs, attached or fixed closely together at the base and loose at the upper ends.
・a cluster of short-stalked flowers, leaves, etc., growing from a common point.
レタスはたしかに柔らかな葉の房なので上のどれにも当てはまりますね。　"tuft of" は覚えておきたい。