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Dandelion
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The dandelion is an extremely common, extremely hardy alien "weed" everyone is familiar with. It tends to grow 2 to 18 inches high (5 to 45 centimeters). It seems to thrive in sunny areas where it's not mowed over often, growing up to eight inches or so on average. In very poor conditions, like sidewalk cracks, the whole plant may be flattened and not much bigger than a large coin.
In the spring the dandelion grows pointed, jagged-edged leaves from a central base. The leaves are long and thin and green, have arrowhead-like points, grow around the tough central veins of their leaves, and have rather irregular, jagged teeth that point backwards. Its roots (usually a single thick taproot) are dark brown on the outside and pale and milky within, and grow very deep, supposedly as much as 3 feet long, and are hard to remove whole or destroy.
In the spring and summer the plant sends up a few pale, milky, slightly shiny, hollow stalks with blends of reddish and greenish color (possibly redder on sunnier sides, and greener on the shadier sides); on the end of each stalk is a green bud with lighter-colored, thin, pointed, reflexed bracts under it, seemingly in layers that peel off and curl down. The buds open into bright yellow flowers, usually about the diameter of nickels or quarters, and flattish on top; each flower is made up of many tiny overlapping petals with ragged, squarish ends, and these are smallest in the center of the flower and largest on the edges. (The flowers are actually compound flowers made up of tiny florets, each of which produces its own seed.) The faintly sweet- and pleasant-smelling flowers tend to open in the sunlight and close at night. If you dissect a flower, you'll see satiny white down and even very tiny pale seeds in the center. Ants, flies and other insects seem attracted to dandelion flowers; watch out for them while harvesting.
Within days the flowers close into loose buds, and the yellow petals clinging to the tips of the buds dry up, turning a dull shade, and fall off. Inside the buds form tiny pale green seeds, the size of splinters, with silky fluff on top. When the seeds are ripe and brown and dry, the buds open into white, downy, round seedheads. Each seedhead (or "blowball") is the size of a big gumball and holds many seeds, which have tufts of white fluff on them to carry them on the wind. When they are all blown away, the bare seedhead is rubbery and white, with tiny dots all over, and resembles a pincushion or a mushroom cap.
All parts of the dandelion seem to be edible, including leaves, roots, stems, flowerbuds, and flowers, but they don't taste that good raw; the leaves and stem are very bitter. The flowers and the youngest spring leaves (gathered before the flowers sprout, especially the blanched bases of the leaves below the soil level) are said to taste palatable in salad, and some people cover dandelion plants from the sun in order to blanch the leaves white and make them less bitter. The older green leaves are extremely bitter but taste better after being cooked in a few changes of water and being removed from their central veins or stems, which are bitterer, tougher, and stringier than the rest. The young flowerbuds can either be boiled for several minutes and served with butter, or pickled. The flowers can be dipped in batter and fried to make dandelion fritters, whose flavor and texture are odd but not bad (sugar helps); they have also been made into jelly and wine, which are said to be very nice, and, less commonly, into ale and syrup. The roots can be baked until brown and brittle, then ground and used as a coffee subsitute.
The leaves and flowers of the dandelion are rich in vitamins A and C. The plant also contains bitter chemicals, fats, gluten, gum, inulin (a kind of carbohydrate, (C6 H10 O5)N, that is said to increase calcium absorption), iron, niacin, potash, proteins, resin, taraxacerin, and vitamins B and E (from Vitamins, Herbs, Minerals, & Supplements : The Complete Guide, by H. Winter Griffith, Md.). I have heard that it also contains potassium, calcium, and vitamin D, and that when the plant is used as a diuretic, it depletes the body's potassium less than other diuretics because of the potassium content in the plant itself. A tea made from the fresh roots (or, for a weaker medicine, the dried roots) has traditionally been used to help the liver, gallbladder, kidneys, and bladder, as a diuretic (not for cases with inflammation), and to treat poor digestion and constipation. The leaf is approved in Germany for treating loss of appetite and dyspepsia with a feeling of fullness and flatulence. The root is approved for treatment of bile flow disturbances, as a diuretic, to stimulate appetite, and to treat dyspepsia. Experimentally the root is hypoglycemic (lowers blood sugar), acts as a weak antibiotic against the yeast infection Candida albicans, and stimulates bile flow and weight loss. The leaf and root contain anti-inflammatory compounds and have been said to help inflammations, such as cystitis. Other reported possible medicinal uses for the plant include treatment of hepatitis, jaundice, rheumatism, and anemia (from Vitamins, Herbs, Minerals, & Supplements : The Complete Guide, by H. Winter Griffith, Md.); also, acne, bronchitis, diabetes, eczema, fever, gallstones, indigestion, insomnia, kidney stones, warts, and wounds (from Wicca Craft, by Gerina Dunwich). According to folklore, the juice of the stem can be applied to warts (note the dermatitis warning, however).
Contact dermatitis has been reported from handling the dandelion, probably due to latex in its leaves and stems. Many common plants look similar to dandelions sometimes, including sow thistle, wild lettuce, and chicory, but they are easy to tell apart and are usually edible as well. Dandelions are anything but in danger of overharvesting, as these alien weeds have survived the wrath of gardeners and lawn owners for years.
The dandelion, alien to America, was brought here from Europe. The name comes from the French "dent de lion", which means "tooth of the lion", possibly thanks to its toothy leaves, toothlike flower petals, or even the white flesh inside its root. The plant's folknames are said to include not only "lion's tooth" but also "blowball", "cankerwort", "priest's crown", "puffball", "swine snout" (perhaps because pigs love eating the whole plants), and "wild endive". The white latex the dandelion contains is a hydrocarbon that can be converted to a combustible fuel. I have found fasciated dandelion plants near where I live (that is, plants in which some of the stems have grown together grotesquely into one), and would like to hear from people who've seen similar plants, especially if they have pictures. In the past, the dandelion has been respected for its usefulness and hardiness, and despised as an non-native plant and an unstoppable weed.
The site Dandelions Are Free has a poem about the dandelion by Emily Dickinson. The site Dandelion Dreams includes a short poem by the same title (near the top of the page). A beautiful photograph of dandelion seeds, taken in 1910, is on Helios, the photography site for the National Museum of American Art. Cyberweeds: The Virtual Dandelion Project is about "growing" virtual reality dandelions (and has interesting pictures of them).
Dandelion seedheads (or "puffballs", or "blowballs") are popular among small children, who try to blow all the seeds away. There are several pieces of folk wisdom about blowing dandelion seedheads -- for instance, that if you make a wish and blow all the seeds away, your wish will come true; that if you blow the seeds away and some are left, it means your sweetheart is thinking of you; and that the number of seeds left is the number of children you will have. The plant's usefulness in herbal medicine is well-known. According to Wicca Craft, by Gerina Dunwich, dandelion is thought to be associated with the planet Jupiter and the sign Sagittarius, and sacred to the goddess Brigit. Today, the homeliness, familiarity, and strength of the dandelion make it symbolic for many people. (I have found several groups with the dandelion as their symbol, including a dance-theater company, a Neo-Pagan group, and many music organizaions.)
Dandelions Are Free is the home site of the book by the same title; it includes the page Excerpts from the Book, with some information and recipes. The MotherNature.com Health Encyclopedia's article on dandelion is informative on its medicinal benefits. The Herbal Alternatives USA site has an enthusiastic article on The Health Benefits of Dandelions.
If this page is too complicated, go to the brief profile instead.
The information in these pages is accurate to the best of my knowledge, but I make no guarantees about its accuracy, nor do I take responsibility for any damage or injury caused by use or misuse of this information.
Much of this information, especially the medicinal details, comes from A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke (Peterson Field Guides), from Vitamins, Herbs, Minerals, & Supplements : The Complete Guide, by H. Winter Griffith, Md., and from Wicca Craft, by Gerina Dunwich. Thanks also to Mother Herb and Moonwatcher. Additional information came from a dandelion page on Botanical.com, Encyclopedia.com's article on the dandelion, and the dandelion page on the Betterbodz site.
