Herb. No. 019 · Asteraceae
European native now cosmopolitan in lawns and waste ground.
Native · Europe
Native Also grownNow a garden plant worldwide
LegalGentleplant
Dandelion
Taraxacum officinale
The lawn's bitter physician — leaf as a potassium-rich diuretic, root as a liver bitter.
Every part is traditional: spring leaf in salad, roasted root as a coffee stand-in, latex on warts in folklore. The leaf is a true diuretic that spares potassium; the root is a bitter digestive. Identify carefully — lookalikes exist, but the hollow unbranched scape and backward-toothed leaf are distinctive.
Flavor
Leaf is bitter-green; roasted root is chicory, cocoa, and earth.
Parts used
Leaf · Root
Helpful
- Free, abundant, nutritious
- Leaf and root cover two jobs
Cautions
- Asteraceae allergy
- Bitter enough to put some people off
- Pesticide lawns are not medicine