Dandelion is a wonderful food as well as a beneficial medicine. It supports overall health by gently working to improve the functioning of the liver, gallbladder, and urinary and digestive systems. It is excellent for cleansing the skin.
Next time you spend an hour removing dandelions from your garden or lawn, turn them into medicine instead of throwing them out, and rejoice in the fact that they will always grow back!
Asteraceae (Compositae) Daisy family
Description: A familiar weed of lawns, with bright yellow flowers, seed ‘clocks’, a bitter white latex in the stem and a long tap root.
Habitat: Lawns, fields and roadside verges.
Distribution: Worldwide in temperate zones.
Related species: There are actually 250 or so species within Taraxacum officinale in the British Isles. These are divided into nine sections and are very difficult to distinguish. Most common forms of dandelion belong to the Ruderalia section. They are all safe medicinal plants. In Chinese medicine, T. mongolicum is used to clear heat and toxicity.
Parts used: Leaves, roots, flowers and sap.
Dandelions: where to begin? They do so much! They were once much used in Britain as a spring tonic, and still are in Europe. In the US fresh dandelion leaves for salads was a $3m a year industry in 1999.
Dandelions have followed European settlers around the world, though it is probably native in China and most of Asia. Most people know them as lawn weeds, but we’re prepared to upset the gardeners to say: consider the benefits of a lawn of brightly blooming dandelions. Can grass give you salad, tasty fritters, wine, a coffee substitute, tea, useful medicine and more besides?
This plant is almost indestructible: it is a perennial and, unusually, it is self-fertilising; its deep tap roots make it hard to dig out, and any pieces left will regenerate. Its seeds soar miles on little parachutes, whether or not helped by children playing the ‘clock’ game. It flowers almost all year long.
Any amount of mowing, herbicide and flamethrowing fail to eradicate this sunny plant from the garden. Really, you’ll be happier if you view dandelions as a culinary and medicinal gift, a superb ‘cut and come again’ crop, rather than as an annoying weed!
An old companion of man, it has accumulated many names. Blowball and telltime refer to the seeds, priest’s crown to the stem after the seeds have flown, and swine’s snout to the unopened flower. And ‘dandelion’ itself? The ‘teeth of the lion’ (dent de lion) explanation, from the appearance of the saw-edged leaves or perhaps the tiny florets, is found in many languages. But there is also a case made for an older link to the sun.
In many cultures the lion has been the animal symbol of the sun since antiquity, as in the astrological sign Leo. Dandelions are yellow discs, like the sun, and open and close along with it. So, perhaps the old name might mean ‘rays of the sun’ rather than ‘teeth of the lion’? In any case the Chinese, who have long used the dandelion, have even better names for it: two are ‘yellow-flowered earth-nail’ and ‘golden hairpin weed’.
An ancient connection with man: dandelions at Avebury, April
Use dandelion for…
It is high in minerals, especially potassium, and vitamins A, B, C and D. The young leaves boiled up into a tea or eaten fresh in salads are detoxifiers, clearing blood and lymph by increasing elimination through the kidneys and bowels. This in turn benefits overall health.
If dandelion says ‘think spring’, it also suggests ‘think liver’. It has a reputation as a safe liver herb, especially where there are toxins and heat in the blood. The plant’s chemicals cause the gallbladder to contract, releasing bile, stimulating the liver to produce more.
Liver-related conditions aided by dandelion include jaundice and hepatitis, gallstones and urinary tract infection, painful menopause, PMT and menstruation; improvements are achievable in the pancreas, spleen, skin and eyesight.
A herbal monograph on dandelion lists two pages of remedies, from abscess and acne to varicose veins and venereal warts; to this author it is a ‘self-contained pharmacy’.
It is the bitterness in dandelion leaves that makes them so good for your digestion. The bitter taste stimulates secretion of digestive fluids, including stomach acid, bile and pancreatic juices. Dandelion promotes the appetite, and is recommended for those who have been ill or have lost their enthusiasm for food in advanced age.
Roasted dandelion root is a well-known and caffeine-free coffee substitute. We grind the roasted root with a few pods of cardamon just before brewing; it’s also tasty with cinnamon and fennel seed. The root can also be eaten as a boiled vegetable.
The flowers don’t look very edible, but they are surprisingly good eaten straight off the plant, mild and slightly sweet. Eating a few dandelion flowers often relieves a headache too. They are delicious washed, dipped wet into flour and fried in butter until golden brown. This needs to be a lunch dish, as the flowers only open when the sun is shining, and they are too bitter when picked in the evening.
One of Julie’s first paid jobs as a girl in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was collecting paper bags full of dandelion heads for a neighbour to make dandelion wine. This wine is a beautiful golden colour, like distilled sunshine. The flowers also yield a refreshing dandelion ‘beer’ and a face wash.
The sap or latex of the stems was once used in patent medicines, and was said to remove freckles and age spots, corns and warts, to help hair grow, and treat bee stings and blisters.
Dandelion is known as ‘piss-en-lit’ in French, ‘pissabed’ in English, and is justly renowned for its diuretic properties, that is, increasing the flow of urine. What is less familiar is how well it strengthens the urinary system. It is effective in treating bed-wetting in children and incontinence in older people. All parts of the plant have this effect, but especially the leaves.
With most diuretic drugs potassium is lost from the body and has to be supplemented, but dandelion is naturally high in potassium. It can safely be used long term without causing imbalance. The leaves boiled with vegetable peelings make a potassium-rich broth.
Dandelions will grow almost anywhere, from cracks in pavements to car bonnets. They are wonderfully adaptable survivors.
Dandelion’s diuretic effect makes it a good herb for treating swollen ankles, for fluid retention and high blood pressure. It can also be used to alleviate shortness of breath in the elderly.
As a medicine the whole plant is invaluable for liver and gallbladder problems, and for skin complaints including eczema and acne. Its action helps reduce high blood pressure, high cholesterol and the pain of arteriosclerosis and joints, digestive problems, chronic illness, viral infections, and heart and lung irregularities.
Dandelion can form part of a natural cancer treatment, and taken regularly as a food and medicine may help prevent some cancers, especially breast cancer, and other chronic illnesses by keeping the body clean, toned and healthy.
Dandelion tincture
The root or the leaves can be tinctured separately for specific uses, but for general use we prefer to use the whole plant. Dig up dandelion plants, wash the dirt off and remove any dead leaves. The plants can be left whole or chopped up. Place in a jar large enough to hold them, and pour enough vodka in to cover the plants completely.
Put the jar in a cool place out of sunlight. If you chop up your plants, the tincture can be ready in as little as two weeks, otherwise leave it for a month before straining, squeezing the residue in a jelly bag or piece of muslin to get all the liquid out. Pour it into clean amber or blue glass bottles, label and store until needed.
Dosage
• For general health maintenance, take half a teaspoonful twice daily.
• For acute skin eruptions, take 10 drops in water frequently throughout the day until the skin clears.
• For digestive problems, recuperation from chronic illness, sluggish liver, arthritis, gout, eczema and psoriasis, take half to 1 teaspoonful three times daily in water.
• For overindulgence in food or drink, take 10 drops in water every hour until you are feeling better.
Dandelion flower beer
Pick 100 dandelion flowers. Boil 2 litres of water with 100g light brown sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool until tepid, then pour over the dandelion flowers in a large container. Add a lemon, finely sliced.
Cover the container with a clean cloth and set aside in a cool place for three or four days, stirring occasionally. Strain and pour into tightly corked bottles. The beer will be ready to drink in just a few days.
Dandelion flower infused oil
Pick enough dandelion flowers to fill a clean, dry jam jar. Pour in extra virgin olive oil slowly, allowing it to seep down around the flowers until the jar is full and there are no air pockets left.
Cover the jar with a piece of cloth held in place with a rubber band, and put the jar in a warm sunny place. It can be left outdoors during the day if the weather is clear, and brought in at night, or left on a sunny window ledge. The cloth cover lets any moisture escape. You may need to prod the flowers down to keep them immersed in the oil, as they can go mouldy if left in the air.
After a week or two, or when the flowers are limp and have lost their colour, strain off the oil. If you put the flowers in a cloth or jelly bag to squeeze out the oil you may get some juice as well, so you’ll need to let the oil stand for a while in a jug. This will allow any water to sink to the bottom. The oil can then be carefully poured off into bottles, leaving the watery bits at the bottom of the jug.
Dandelion flower oil is an excellent rub for muscle tension and cold, stiff joints. It is good for dry skin, and can be rubbed into the delicate skin around the eyes. Don’t forget this oil can be eaten too, adding a taste of sunshine to salads and other foods.
For external use, you can add essential oils to your home-made flower oil, using up to 20 drops per 100ml of oil. The essential oils act as a natural preservative, and bring their own healing qualities to the mixture. Lavender, ylang ylang and rosemary all combine well with dandelion.
Elder coming into flower, Lincolnshire Wolds, June