Each year Americans spend millions on herbicides in an effort to keep their lawns and gardens free of weeds, the most notorious of which is an innocuous little herb known as dandelion. As adults we lose sight of the many small things that intrigued us in the Spring of our youth. The same children who delighted in the little white balls can now be found in the lawn and garden stores, searching through containers of deadly toxins for the perfect poison to irradicate what previously had delighted them so. The virtues of the dandelion are many. The purpose of this article is to explore a few of these in an attempt to increase our understanding of this much maligned and unjustly abused herb.
Dandelion is a member of the sunflower family.
It is native to Europe and naturalized in North America. The less enlightened consider dandelion to be a weed and a nuisance, but herbalists know the plant as one of the most nutrient-rich in the plant kingdom. The herb is a source of potassium, sodium, phosphorus and iron. Among herbalists dandelion is classified as a bitter herb with cool energy. It is valued mostly for its benefits for the urinary and glandular systems and as a liver and kidney tonic.