54. All About Dandelions

I found this interesting post on my Facebook feed this morning, and thought I would share it. My father always told me the story about the origin of the name dandelion: from the French, dent de lion or dente di leone in Italian refers to the green teeth on the leaves. In France, they're also called pissenlit (piss the bed) because the leaves have diuretic properties.

Although I knew that chickens loved dandelions, I hadn’t realised that they were edible for humans too.

• This Guardian article explains that every part of the plant is edible and recommends the leaves for salads, the roots for coffee (caution with this !!) and the flowers for a risotto.

• This Taste of Home article recommends the young leaves for salads (bitter taste, similar to endive or radiccio), the flowers for wine (reference to Ray Bradbury’s book “Dandelion Wine”) and for sweet syrups, jams and jellies.

Dandelions also have medicinal uses. Kew's Ethnomedica project is a group of Kew scientists examining British plants with a history of documented evidence that they were used to treat ailments before the advent of the NHS in 1945. It focuses in particular on plants that were used in the early 20th century, and has 116 recommendations for using dandelions to cure warts. They have also traditionally been used for liver and kidney problems as well as digestive disorders.. The plants are a rich source of vitamins A, B, C, and D, and contain minerals such as iron, potassium and zinc. More recently this “Remembered Remedies” project has been looking at the dandelion’s cancer beating properties.

I won’t be as dismissive about the not-so-humble dandelions in my grass next time!