What lawn weed was once a tonic?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
January 28, 2002
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading – Complete Rose Garden & Three-Season Garden: Click here.
In Gerard's Herbal (1633), the plant was known as Dens Leonis (lion's teeth), a reference to the toothed margin of the leaves. He recommended the leaves, "Boiled, it strengthens the weak stomacke,...and helpes the Dysentery especially boyled with Lentiles." For men, the bitter "...juice drunke is good against the unvoluntary effusion of seed...." For liver problems, "A decoction made of the whole plant helpes the yellow jaundice (hepatitis?)."
In Grieve's Modern Herbal (1931), the use of tender leaves was considered more for the food value and the two-year-old roots for medicinal purposes. In cultivation, the leaves were blanched (mounding soil over the plant). Blanching does not allow the leaves to photosynthesize; consequently, they are pale and less bitter. Used as a vegetable, the leaves were collected in spring before the plant began to flower and the water changed once during the cooking.
For the medicinal value of the dandelion, Mrs. Grieve states, "Diuretic, tonic, and slightly aperient (laxative). It is a general stimulant to the system..., and is chiefly used in kidney and liver disorders." Dandelion tea and honey were "...much approved in the treatment of dropsy (edema often caused by congestive heart failure)."
The herbalists were probably right about the value of dandelions. The Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Maine reports that 3.5 ounces of boiled dandelion greens have only 33 calories, but 12,168 IU Vitamin A, 18 milligrams Vitamin C, and 1.8 milligrams of iron. To those who lived when poor diets were the rule, the dandelion tonic had to greatly improve their health.
Henriette Kress has posted a photograph of Taraxacum officinale in a meadow near Helsinki, Finland.
Click here to view the photograph
The University of Maine Cooperative Extension Service has a bulletin on edible wild greens.
Click here to learn more
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
What plant clones itself as a seed? Weird Plants - January 31, 2002
What was spirit weed? Herbal Folklore - October 11, 2004
What weed was a treatment for mange? Herbal Folklore - January 5, 2004
Why is this ancient grain making a comeback? Plants that Changed History - September 7, 2004
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