Although it’s often dismissed as little more than a stubborn lawn weed, dandelions have deep roots in history throughout the ages. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans enjoyed the flower, and they have been used in Chinese traditional medicine for over a thousand years. Dandelions probably arrived in North America on the Mayflower – not as stowaways but brought on purpose for their medicinal benefits.
Dandelions were world-famous for their beauty. They were a
common and beloved garden flower in Europe and the subject of many poems. In
the terrifying New World, the cheerful face of the dandelion was a sweet
reminder of home. In Japan, for instance, whole horticultural societies formed
to enjoy the beauty of dandelions and to develop exciting new varieties for
gardeners.
Dandelions are a green and growing first aid kit. The use of
dandelions in the healing arts goes so far back that tracing its history is
like trying to catch a dandelion seed as it floats over the grass. For
millenniums, people have been using dandelion tonics to help the body’s liver
remove toxins from the bloodstream. At one time dandelions were also prescribed
for every ailment, from warts to the plague. To this day, herbalists hail the
dandelion as the perfect plant medicine: It is a gentle diuretic that provides
nutrients and helps the digestive system function at peak efficiency.
Dandelions are more nutritious than most of the vegetables
in your garden. They were named after lions because their lion-toothed leaves
healed so many ailments, great and small: baldness, dandruff, toothache, sores,
fevers, rotting gums, weakness, lethargy and depression. But it wasn’t until
the twentieth century was the underlying cause of many of these symptoms
realized: vitamin deficiencies. In eras when vitamin pills were unknown,
vitamin deficiencies killed millions. In its time, “scurvy” was as dreaded a
word as AIDS is today. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture reveal how
dandelions probably helped alleviate many ailments: They have more vitamin A
than spinach, more vitamin C than tomatoes, and are a powerhouse of iron,
calcium and potassium.
Dandelions are good for your lawn. Their wide-spreading
roots loosen hard-packed soil, aerate the earth and help reduce erosion. The
deep taproot pulls nutrients such as calcium from deep in the soil and makes
them available to other plants. While most think they’re a lawn killer,
dandelions actually fertilize the grass.
Dandelions are masters of survival. They can take root in
places that seem a little short of miraculous, and then are impossible to get rid
of, as homeowners have found. But why is this plant so hard to kill? It’s
because they are fast growers. The sunny yellow flowers go from bud to seed in
days. Their lifespan is long, too – an individual plant can live for years, so
the dandelion lurking in a corner of the playground might be older than the
children running past it. The roots sink in deeper over the years and can go
down 15 feet. Like the Hydra who sprouted two new heads for everyone that was
cut off, the roots clone when divided; a one-inch bit of dandelion root can
grow a whole new dandelion. Dandelion leaves can shove their way through gravel
and cement, and thrive in barren habitats.
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