l
DANDELION
Family Name (English): Asteraceae
Latin Name: Taraxacum Officinalis
Common Names: Dandelion
Latin: dens leonis
Greek: leon todon
French: dent de lion
Also known as: Blowballs, Priest’s crown, Monk’s Head, Telltime, Face clock, Noor-head Clocks, Doonhead Clock, Cankerwort, Swine’s snout, Pissabed.
Class: Dicot
Plant Community: Meadow
Body System Affiliations:
- Skin Problems-acne, measles, chicken pox, eczema, warts
- Indigestion
- Stomach ache
- Constipation
- Anemia
- Blood purification
- Hepatitis
Botanical Description:
Habit: yellow-flowered composite plant
Size: Leaves- 2-14 inches long and ½ - 3 inches wide
Flower heads-1-2 inches across
Stalk- 3 – 12 inches long and no more than ½ centimeter in diameter.
Root- 6-18 inches deep (can penetrate soil up to 10 to 15 ft)
Arrangement: A thick yellowish white taproot with a rosette cluster of green jagged-edged leaves around the base of the stalk. The stalk rises from the center with a cluster of bright yellow flowers forming a disk.
Leaves: Jagged-edged deep green leaves that are sparsely hairy or not hairy. Reach up to 14 inches long and 3 inches wide.
Flowers: Bright yellow flower heads creating a disk of flowers up to 2 inches across. Each flower is notched five times to make up the petal.
Fruit: 200 or more florets, each with a seed attached to silky flowers. Seeds are enclosed singly within fruiting bodies and are attached to a long (1 centimeter) fibrous stalk that terminates in a parachute like structure called a pappus. Seed are usually transported in the wind.
Stalk: Light brown/ purplish, hollow stalk containing bitter tasting milky white substance.
Underground Parts: Deep taproot that exudes milky white substance when cut.
Ecology:
Habitat: Grows best in moist areas and full sun with some shade. Can withstand dry conditions once established
Range: Grows in Europe and United States and Canada in temperate climates. It grows in meadows, pastures, grass, and alfalfa.
Native Where: Thought to originate in Asia 30 million years ago. Came from Europe to Americas.
Propagation:
Technique: About 4 lb. Of seed per acre is needed sown 1 foot apart. Dandelion flowers develop asexually. Germination occurs at or near soil surface. Light increases germination, as does moist soil at temperatures between 50 degrees and 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Crops should be kept clean by hoeing and flower heads clipped off as soon as they appear to prevent an over-infestation. This yields 4 to 5 tons of fresh roots/acre in the second year.
Timing: Best harvested April thru November.
Harvest:
Plant Part: Flowers
Season of Harvest: Spring thru autumn, but mostly spring.
Method of Harvest: Pick off the yellow head before fruit ripens. Note: on picking off the yellow flower a milky white sticky substance exudes from the stem.
Ecological considerations of Harvest: Prevent over-infestation of plant by removing flower before ripening and spreading thru the wind.
Plant Part: Leaves
Season of Harvest: Spring thru autumn
Method of Harvest: Gathering young leaves is best for eating in salads etc. Larger green leaves are used in drying and using in dandelion beer, etc.
Plant Part: Root
Season of Harvest: Spring thru autumn
Method of Harvest: Roots are best harvested when largest after two years in deep soil with no rocks. Roots harvested in October have a reserve of Inulin, giving it a firm appearance. Roots harvested in spring are more dried up and shriveled as the plant has used its reserves of Inulin throughout the winter. Medicinal properties of the root vary from spring to autumn and should be harvested based on what ones purpose is for the root.
Cautions: If the whole root is not dug out of the ground, there is a chance the plant will grow back from the remaining root.
Western Uses/ Relationships:
Food: Young leaves used in salads and sandwiches. Young leaves may be boiled as a vegetable (spinach style) however it takes longer than spinach to fully cook. Older leaves used to make dandelion beer after fermented.
Food: Flowers used to make dandelion wine.
Food: Root harvested in autumn is used to make dandelion coffee, and also mixed in with other vegetables in stir-fry fashion.
Medicine:
Part Used: Root
Medicinal Actions: Has been used for the treatment of liver and gall bladder problems, breast diseases, water retention, digestive problems, joint pain, fever, and skin diseases (6). Studies suggest that it stimulates the flow of bile, improves appetite, and eases constipation (6).
Constituents: eudesmanolide, germacranolide, taraxol, taraxerol, taraxasterol, stigmasterol, beta-sisosterol, caffeic acid, and p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (6).
Preparation: The typical dosage is 2 to 8 g, 3 times daily of dried root; 250 mg, 3 to 4 times daily of a 5:1 extract; or 5 to 10 ml, 3 times daily of a 1:5 tincture in 45% alcohol (6).
Cautions: There are no known drug interactions to the root. People with known allergies to related plants like chamomile and yarrow should take with caution (6). If you are taking diuretic drugs or oral medications that reduce blood sugar, use dandelion under doctor’s supervision.
Part Used: Leaves
Medicinal Actions: Mild diuretic effect
Preparation: Eat in salad, cook like spinach, or dry and ferment for beer. A decoction of 2OZ. Of the herb or root in 1 quart of water, boiled down to a pint, is taken in doses of one wineglassful every three hours for scurvy, scrofula, eczema and all eruptions on the surface of the body (5).
Other: 1 serving of dandelion greens equals 50% more Vitamin C than the same size serving of tomatoes, 2 times as much protein as eggplant, 2 times as much fiber as asparagus, same amount of Iron as spinach, more potassium than bananas. Dandelion is nature’s richest vegetable source of cancer-fighting beta-carotene and 3 rd richest source of Vitamin A of all foods after cod-liver oil and beef liver. It is rich in Vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, thiamine, and riboflavin (3).
Part Used: Stalk
Medicinal Actions: Cure for warts
Preparation: The juice of the stalk may be applied to remove warts (5).
Part Used: Flower
Medicinal Actions: tonic, good for the blood (5)
Preparation: Dandelion Wine- pour a gallon of boiling water over a gallon of flowers. After stirring, cover with blanket and let stand for three days, stirring at intervals. Strain and boil liquor for 30 minutes. Add 3 ½ lb. of loafsugar, little sliced ginger, rind of 1 orange, 1 sliced lemon. Let chill, add piece of toast to ferment. Cover and let stand two days. Place in cask well bunged down for two months before bottling (5).
Personal Experiences:
Food: Used as leaves for salads
Other Interesting Info:
*Dandelion is one of the top 6 herbs in the Chinese herbal medicine chest.
*Has been known to cure liver diseases like hepatitis and jaundice (3).
*Has no negative side effects (3).
*Astrological attribute include: Gender-masculine, Planet-Jupiter, Element-Air, Deities-Hecate, Belenos, and Sun Gods.
*Taraxacum comes from the Persian word for “bitter herb.”
Cautions: There are no known drug interactions to dandelion. People with known allergies to other similar plants like chamomile and yarrow should take with caution. Use under doctor’s supervision if taking medication to reduce blood pressure or diuretic drugs.
Brooke Orth - Arts, Environment and the Child; Walking the Wheel of the Seasons – Fall – 2005.
Sources
1. Kelly, M. A. A Child’s Book of Wildflowers. New York, NY; Four Winds Press, 1992.
2. Schaeffer, Elizabeth. Dandelion, Pokeweed, and Goosefoot, How Early Settlers Used Plants for Food, Medicine, and in the Home. Reading, MA; Young Scott Books, 1972.
3. Wilensky, Amy S. Dandelion: Celebrating the magical blossom. San Francisco; Council Oak Books, 2000.
4. D. Cudney, Botany and Plant Sciences, UC Riverside: and C. Elmore, Vegetable Crops/weed Science, UC Davis. Pest Notes: Dandelions. March 2004. Online at http://axp.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7469.html. Visited 11/09/2005.
5. Grieve, M. A Modern Herbal. 2005. Online at http://www.botanical.com. Visited 11/11/05
6. Author Unknown. EBSCO. Online at http://healthlibrary.epnet.com. Aug 2003. Visited 11/11/2005.
7. Author Unknown. UC IPM Online- University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program. Online at http://axp.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/WEEDS/dandelion.html. Jan. 2004. Visited 11/09/2005.
