Dandelion
Taraxacum officinale Weber
Leontodon taraxacum Linn.
Taraxacum dens-leonis Desf.
| Common names |
| Dandelion |
| Irish daisy |
| Lion's tooth |
| Blowball |
| Milk gowan |
| Priest's crown |
| White endive |
| Puff ball |
| Swine snout |
| Botany Milkly perennial herb. Leaves are radical and smooth, stalkless, oblanceolate, spatulate or oblong, 7 to 20 cm long, toothed and pinnatifid. The heads are solitary on stalks 10-20 cm long. Like the African daisy, it has numerous golden yellow flowers. Chemical constituents and properties Aperient, depurative, diuretic, stomachic, tonic. Root is milky and bitter. Plant contains inosit, asparagine, a reducing sugar, a bitter principle, saponin, tyrosinase, palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, resinic acids, cholin. The flowers contain inulin and a bitter alkaloid, taraxacin. The milky juice contains taraxin, inosit, and taraxacerin. Distribution Found wild in the Benguet areas and limited cultivation in lawns and backyards in some parts of the Philippines for its flowering plant. Parts used and preparation Roots, leaves. Uses: Nutritional Used by some as salad component. Folkloric Its multiplicity of uses rates it a herbal cure-all, especially for liver ailments (in Europe, taken as broth with leaves of sorrel and egg yolk for chronic liver congestion). Used for its gently laxative effect and as bitter tonic in atonic dyspepsia. Promotes appetite and digestion. Root preparation used for a variety of conditions: fevers, diabetes, eczema, scurvy, bowel inflammation. Pounded poultice of leaves applied to wounds and cuts. As a drink: 20 gms of root to a cup of boiling water, take 3-5 glasses a day. Juice of the stalk used to remove warts. Powdered dried roots used with coffee, and a substitute for coffee when roasted and powdered. Extract of dandelion used as remedy for fevers and chills. Infusion used to treat anemia, jaundice and nervousness. Decoction of root herb taken for scrofula, eczema, scurvy and various skin eruptions. Others Dandelion wine. Availability Wild-crafted. Cultivated for its flowering plant. |
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Additional
Sources DANDELION by Yashpal (Paul) Chhabra http://www.herballegacy.com/Chhabra_Medicinal.html |
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