I see many dandelions on my walk, sprouting in front yards, flower beds, strips of grass near the street, etc. I don’t think it takes much effort for a dandelion seed to take root. I suppose some would consider dandelions weeds. If they are, they are very pretty ones. I remember tying them together as a child to make dandelion necklaces or crowns. My sister and I didn’t need any adult jewelry to play dress-up; the makings of it were right in our back yard! Plus blowing the parachute ball, dispersing the seeds, was more fun than blowing soap bubbles. The parachute ball reminds me of the architecture in Reunion Tower; I have eaten at the revolving restaurant inside the ball. Hopefully, today’s mothers know that dandelions can provide children with endless hours of entertainment. I’m sure dandelions have more functions than providing jewelry to little girls. Let’s learn more about them.
According to Wikipedia, Taraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The genus is native to Eurasia and North America, but the two commonplace species worldwide — T. officinale and T. erythrospermum — were introduced from Europe and now propagate as wildflowers. Both species are edible in their entirety. The common name dandelion — from French dent-de-lion, meaning "lion's tooth" — is given to members of the genus. Like other members of the family Asteraceae, they have very small flowers collected together into a composite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret. In part due to their abundance, along with being a generalist species, dandelions are one of the most vital early spring nectar sources for a wide host of pollinators. Many Taraxacum species produce seeds asexually by apomixis, where the seeds are produced without pollination, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant.
History
Dandelions are thought to have evolved about 30 million years ago in Eurasia. Fossil seeds of Taraxacum tanaiticum have been recorded from the Pliocene of southern Russia. Dandelions have been used by humans for food and as an herb for much of recorded history. They were well known to ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and are recorded to have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over a thousand years. The plant was used as food and medicine by Native Americans. Dandelions were brought to North America on the Mayflower for their medicinal benefits.
Etymology
The Latin name Taraxacum originates in medieval Persian writings on pharmacy. The Persian scientist Abū Bakr Muhammad Zakariyyā Rāzī around 900 CE wrote "the tarashaquq is like chicory." The Persian scientist and philosopher Ibn Sīnā around 1000 CE wrote a book chapter on Taraxacum. Gerard of Cremona, in translating Arabic to Latin around 1170, spelled it tarasacon.
The English name, dandelion, is a corruption of the French “dent de lion” meaning "lion's tooth," referring to the coarsely toothed leaves. The plant is also known as blowball, cankerwort, doon-head-clock, witch's gowan, milk witch, lion's-tooth, yellow-gowan, Irish daisy, monks-head, priest's-crown and puff-ball; other common names include faceclock, pee-a-bed, wet-a-bed, swine’s snout, white endive and wild endive.
The English folk name "piss-a-bed" — and indeed the equivalent contemporary French “pissenlit” — refers to the strong diuretic effect of the plant's roots. In various northeastern Italian dialects, the plant is known as pisacan or "dog pisses" because they are found at the side of pavements.
In Swedish, it is called “maskros” or “worm rose” after the small insects or thrips usually present in the flowers. In Finnish and Estonian, the names translate as butter flower, due to the color of the flower. In Lithuanian, it is known as "pienė" meaning "milky," because of the white latex that is produced when the stems are cut. The Danish name “mælkebøtte" means "milk bin" or "the devils milk bin" and also refers to the milky latex and its ability to spread. The Welsh, German, Norwegian, Portuguese and Spanish names mean the same as the French and the English names. In Czech it is known as “pampeliška” where the "liška" part directly translates to a "fox," possibly due to the color of the flower.
Description
The species of Taraxacum are tap-rooted, perennial, herbaceous plants, native to temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere. The genus contains many species, which usually reproduce by apomixis, resulting in many local populations and endemism. In the British Isles alone, 234 microspecies are recognized in nine loosely defined sections, of which 40 are "probably endemic."
In general, the leaves are 2" to 10" long or longer, simple, lobed and form a basal rosette above the central taproot. The flower heads are yellow- to orange-colored and are open in the daytime, but closed at night. The heads are borne singly on a hollow stem that is usually leafless and rises 1⁄2" to 4" or more above the leaves. Stems and leaves exude a white, milky latex when broken. A rosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower heads are 1" to 2" in diameter and consist entirely of ray florets. The flower heads mature into spherical seed heads sometimes called blowballs or clocks — in both British and American English — containing many single-seeded fruits called achenes. Each achene is attached to a pappus of fine hair-like material which enables wind-aided dispersal over long distances.
The flower head is surrounded by bracts — sometimes mistakenly called sepals — in two series. The inner bracts are erect until the seeds mature, then flex downward to allow the seeds to disperse. The outer bracts are often reflexed downward but remain appressed in plants of the sections Palustria and Spectabilia. Some species drop the "parachute" from the achenes; the hair-like parachutes are called pappus, and they are modified sepals. Between the pappus and the achene is a stalk called a beak, which elongates as the fruit matures. The beak breaks off from the achene quite easily, separating the seed from the parachute.
Seed dispersal
Many species of Taraxacum are seed-dispersed ruderals that rapidly colonize disturbed soil, especially the common dandelion, which has been introduced over much of the temperate world. After flowering is finished, the dandelion flower head dries out for a day or two. The dried petals and stamens drop off, the bracts reflex or curve backwards and the parachute ball opens into a full sphere. When development is complete, the mature seeds are attached to white, fluffy "parachutes" which easily detach from the seedhead and glide by wind, dispersing.
The seeds are able to cover large distances when dispersed due to the unique morphology of the pappus which works to create a unique type of vortex ring that stays attached to the seed rather than being sent downstream. In addition to the creation of this vortex ring, the pappus can adjust its morphology, depending on the moisture in the air. This allows the plume of seeds to close up and reduces the chance to separate from the stem, waiting for optimal conditions that will maximize dispersal and germination.
Selected species
Taraxacum albidum
Taraxacum albidum is a species of dandelion that grows in eastern Eurasia. A member of the Asteraceae, it is a perennial herbaceous plant native to the southern part of Japan. Taraxacum albidum is a cross between T. coreanum and T. japonicum.
Taraxacum californicum or California dandelion
Taraxacum californicum, also known as the California dandelion, is an endangered species of dandelion endemic to the San Bernandino Mountains of California. It grows in mountain meadows.
Taraxacum californicum is a small perennial wildflower which resembles its close relative, the widespread weed known as the common dandelion or T. officinale. T. californicum has green, red-veined, lobed or toothed leaves and yellow flower heads, yielding brown and white fruits.
There are fewer than twenty occurrences known of the plant, and several occurrences include just a few individuals. The plant can hybridize with the common dandelion, causing genetic pollution, uncontrolled gene flow into wild populations.
Taraxacum japonicum
Taraxacum japonicum is a species of dandelion that grows in Japan.
Taraxacum kok-saghyz
Taraxacum kok-saghyz — often abbreviated as TKS and commonly referred to as the Kazakh dandelion, rubber root, or Russian dandelion — is a species of dandelion native to Kazakhstan, Kirghizia and Uzbekistan, that is notable for its production of high-quality rubber. T. kok-saghyz was discovered in Kazakhstan in 1932 by the Soviet Union in an effort to find a domestic source of rubber.
The Soviet Union cultivated Taraxacum kok-saghyz together with Taraxacum hybernum and Scorzonera tau-saghyz on a large scale between 1931 and 1950 — notably during World War II — as an emergency source of rubber when supplies of rubber from Hevea brasiliensis in Southeast Asia were threatened. The United States, UK, Germany, Sweden and Spain also cultivated the plant for the same reason. During this time period, the highest yields achieved by the U.S. reached 110 kg of rubber per hectare, while the USSR achieved yields of 200 kg of rubber per hectare. With the conclusion of World War II and the return of affordable Hevea brasiliensis rubber — which has 8 to 10 times the yield, the majority of T. kok-saghyz programs ceased.
The Raisko sub-camp of Auschwitz was a production factory for the plant.
Attention on T. kok-saghyz has revived due to allergic reactions to Hevea rubber used in medical devices and to shortcomings in the supply of rubber from Hevea brasiliensis. One threat to Hevea brasiliensis rubber production is the South American Leaf Blight, which has afflicted conventional rubber production in South America since 1934. This blight may spread to the Hevea brasilensis trees in Southeast Asia, which are genetically very similar to each other and to those of South America. Furthermore, land used for rubber production is being converted to palm oil plantations in order to produce biofuel, and labor costs reduce the profitability of Hevea brasiliensis plantations, as each tree must be manually tapped in order to harvest its latex. Rising oil prices limit the economic viability of synthetic rubbers, and synthetic equivalents often cannot pragmatically replace natural rubber. In May 2019 German tire-maker Continental AG announced it was about to begin production of the "first bicycle tire made with sustainable rubber from dandelions," which it intended to grow on the grounds of its own manufacturing plants, avoiding several of the traditional issues with H. brasiliensis latex — from the long lead time between planting and cultivating — only six months for the dandelion, rather than seven years for the rubber tree — and volatile prices of the product due to the long transport distances between places where the rubber can be grown and the company's factories.
Researchers have started to develop Taraxacum kok-saghyz cultivars which are easier to cultivate and which produce more and better rubber as part of a large research project at many institutions.
Inulin produced by T. kok-saghyz is a sugar that could be used in non-food applications or be turned into bioethanol through fermentation. The remaining plant biomass could be used to produce biogas.
Taraxacum platycarpum or Korean dandelion
Taraxacum platycarpum, also called Korean dandelion, is a species of dandelion that grows in Korea. A member of the Cichorieae tribe of the Asteraceae, it also grows in other countries as a native plant, such as in China and Japan.
Edibility
The entire plant, including the leaves, stems, flowers and roots, is edible and nutritious. Dandelions are found on six continents and have been gathered for food since prehistory, but the varieties commercially cultivated for consumption are mainly native to Eurasia and North America. A perennial plant, its leaves grow back if the taproot is left intact. To make leaves more palatable, they are often blanched to remove bitterness or sauteed in the same way as spinach. Dandelion greens have been a part of traditional Kashmiri, Spanish, Italian, Albanian, Slovenian, Sephardic Jewish, Chinese, Greek and Korean cuisines. In Crete, the leaves of a variety called “Mari” or “Koproradiko” are eaten by locals — either raw or boiled — in salads. T. megalorhizon, a species endemic to Crete, is eaten in the same way; it is found only at high altitudes — 3,000 to 5,000 feet — and in fallow sites, and is called pentaramia or agrioradiko.
The flower petals — along with other ingredients, usually including citrus — are used to make dandelion wine. Its ground, roasted roots can be used as a caffeine-free coffee alternative. Dandelions were once considered delicacies by the Victorian gentry, who used them mostly in salads and sandwiches.
“Dandelion Wine” is a 1957 novel by Ray Bradbury set in the summer of 1928 in the fictional town of Green Town, Illinois, based upon Bradbury's childhood home of Waukegan, Illinois. The novel developed from the short story "Dandelion Wine," which appeared in the June 1953 issue of Gourmet magazine.
The title refers to a wine made with dandelion petals and other ingredients, commonly citrus fruit. In the story, dandelion wine — as made by the protagonist's grandfather — serves as a metaphor for packing all of the joys of summer into a single bottle.
The main character of the story is Douglas Spaulding, a 12-year-old boy loosely patterned after Bradbury. Most of the book is focused upon the routines of small-town America, and the simple joys of yesterday.
Dandelion was also traditionally used to make the traditional British soft drink dandelion and burdock and is one of the ingredients of root beer. Dandelion and burdock is a beverage consumed in the British Isles since the Middle Ages. It was originally a type of light mead, but over the years has evolved into the carbonated soft drink commercially available today. Traditionally it was made from fermented dandelion and burdock — Arctium lappa — roots, hence the name.
Dandelion and burdock is most similar in flavor to sarsaparilla. The drink has recently seen an increase in popularity after previously poor sales.
Ben Shaw, a Huddersfield businessman with humble origins, founded a company which made and sold the drink, first in Yorkshire and then throughout Britain, between 1871 and 1993, after which his enterprise passed through several hands and is now owned by Refresco who still make and sell the drink.
Fentimans, a beverage company based in the United Kingdom, offers a version of the naturally brewed dandelion and burdock drink, containing extracts of both plants — although its main ingredients are sugar and pear juice concentrate.
A.G. Barr, famous for Scottish soft drink Irn-Bru, produces a version of dandelion and burdock under the name D’n’B and the slogan "Tall, dark and drinksome."
The last of the UK's original temperance bars, Fitzpatrick's in Rawtenstall, which opened in 1890, still produces its dandelion and burdock from an original recipe brought over from Ireland at the end of the 19th century.
Dandelion “coffee,” also dandelion tea, is made from the root of the dandelion plant. The roasted dandelion root pieces and the beverage have some resemblance to coffee in appearance and taste, and it is thus commonly considered a coffee substitute. Dandelion root is used for both medicinal and culinary purposes and is thought to be a detoxifying herb.
Susanna Moodie explained how to prepare dandelion “coffee” in her memoir of living in Canada, “Roughing it in the Bush” in 1852, where she mentions that she had heard of it from an article published in the 1830s in New York Albion by a certain Dr. Harrison. Dandelion “coffee” was later mentioned in a Harpers New Monthly Magazine story in 1886. In 1919, dandelion root was noted as a source of cheap “coffee.” It has also been part of edible plant classes dating back at least to the 1970s.
Harvesting dandelion roots requires differentiating “true” dandelions from other yellow daisy-like flowers such as catsear and hawksbeard. True dandelions have a ground-level rosette of deep-toothed leaves and hollow straw-like stems. Large plants that are 3–4 years old, with taproots approximately 0.5 inch in diameter, are harvested for dandelion coffee. These taproots are similar in appearance to pale carrots.
Dandelion roots that are harvested in the spring have sweeter and less bitter notes, while fall-harvested roots are richer and more bitter.
The dandelion plant must be two years old before removing the root. After harvesting, the dandelion roots are dried, chopped and roasted. After harvesting, the dandelion roots are sliced lengthwise and placed to dry for two weeks in a warm area. When ready, the dried roots are oven-roasted and stored away. To prepare a cup, one will seep about 1 teaspoon of the root into hot water for around 10 minutes. People often enjoy their dandelion coffee with cream and sugar.
Cultural importance
It has been a Western tradition for someone to blow out a dandelion seedhead and think of a wish wanted to come true.
Five dandelion flowers are the emblem of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The citizens celebrate spring with an annual Dandelion Festival.
The dandelion is the official flower of the University of Rochester in New York state, and "Dandelion Yellow" is one of the school's official colors. "The Dandelion Yellow" is an official University of Rochester song.
Dandelion movie
Made in 2004, “Dandelion” starts Taryn Manning, Vincent Kartheiser, Arliss Howard, Mare Winningham and Michelle Forbes. In a small town of rolling fields and endless skies, isolated 16-year-old Mason lives in a world where families exist in fragmented silence, and love seems to have gone missing. Then Mason meets Danny, a sensitive and troubled girl, and their tender bond is soon tested after a fatal accident and a series of complications takes Mason away for something he didn't do. Upon his return, the two find what they're looking for — but with tragic consequences.
Comments