Taraxacum officianle, Dandelion
Dandelions are simple perennial plants that reproduce primarily from seed. They have short stems and deep,
fleshy taproots. These deep roots help dandelions survive in all conditions including droughts.
Leaves are in rosettes, meaning they're grouped together close to the ground. They’re 3-10" long,
variable in shape and deeply lobed. Flowers are bright yellow and are produced on a hollow, upright stem
that’s 11-18" high. The seeds are 1/8" long and attached to a hairy parachute that floats in the wind.
(We all remember blowing puffballs of dandelion plants when we were young.)
Dandelion plants can produce 54 to 170 seeds per head and a single plant can have from 2,000 to 20,000 seeds.
Seeds often germinate shortly after they fly from the plant, and they germinate on or near the surface
of the soil when the temperature warms up to 10°C or more.
Although dandelions don’t have underground rhizomes like thistle or quack grass, they often grow from
rootstocks that have been cut off.
Dandelion Nutritional Values
Dandelions, Don't Kill Them, Eat Them, Table of Nutrients
Leaf Lady Tells All About Dandelion Secrets
Dande Land of Milk and Honey, Full Botanical Info & References
Dandelions are a major food source of Bees, which are taking a major genocide hit lately,
probably due to systemic pesticides along with massive herbicide use and hyper-retentive landscaping ethnic cleansing.
Voikukkahunaja – Dandelion Honey
Dandelion honey is a rare spring honey.
It is produced from dandelions in Satakunta.
The taste reminds you of your childhood plays on a dandelion field.
The colour of dandelion honey is yellowish orange.
The nature favours us every ten years with this first delicacy of a spring.
Dandelion Honey & Products
Dandelion Photos
Dandelion Photos
Dandelion Ash/Nutrient Value
"Dandelions are like sin, starts with just one and then takes over"
Dandelion Images
Everybody knows what a dandelion looks like.
What appears as one brilliant yellow flower at the top of a long hollow stem,
is in fact many small flowers which spring forth from a small disk.
(I read that notwithstanding this very showy flower, the dandelion reproduces itself wholly non-sexually
and does not require the visits of insects.) The stem arises from a rosette of basal leaves.
The leaves are jagged and its the leaves from which the plant gets its name, in French,
"dent de lion," lion's teeth. Note the "reflexed sepals" below the flower head.
And, as all children know, the stems when broken exude a milky substance which will dry as black smudges.
And, too, who hasn't blown the tiny parachutes off, into the air, from the round, fluffy, translucent seedballs
of the dandelion. There are, seemingly, two types: the one smaller and close to the ground,
and the other taller and erect, more often found in the open wild and not hiding down amidst the grass
of your front lawn. The dandelion was introduced by Europeans. Dandelions are one of the first wild flowers
we see and thrive in Nova Scotia through the entire growing season. Seemingly they will grow everywhere,
especially on people's lawns.
Edibility:
The young leaves -- before the flower blooms, and, only if picked away from where people spread their poisons --
make a very tasty and healthy meal:
"... very nutritious, containing Vitamins A, C; thiamine, riboflavin, calcium, sodium and potassium."
So, Dandelion greens can be treated much like spinach, cooked or raw. They may, however, prove to be a bit bitter;
so, like brussel sprouts or fiddle heads (fern sprouts), they should be soaked for an hour or so in water
after being sprinkled with baking soda; rinse well with cold water in a colander before cooking.
Roots can be dried and used as a coffee substitute. (See Griffin.)
"The young roots, dug before the last frost of spring, make a good cooked vegetable.
To prepare them, peel, slice and boil in two waters with a pinch of baking soda.
These roots can also be made into a coffee. They can be dug any time of the year for this.
Just roast them for four hours, grind them into small pieces and perk in boiling water,
and you've got a good drink." (McLeod, p. 34.)
Wine can be made out of the flowers. A recipe can be found in McLeod (p. 34).
Reference earlier was made to the flower stems which when broken exude a milky substance,
according to Clevely this, while temporarily staining the skin, soothes burns and stings.
Dandelion Foods
Dandelion Town, Lotsa Great Kid Photos & Recipies
This is one of the finest examples of what we hope to see spread in the online wind and save the world!
Dandelion Recipies
Dandelion, A Weed Or Wonder Plant?
A spin doctored report from famous university, shame on them. But it gets a lot worse...
Dandelion Genocide
“Applications of glyphosate in the fall target all growth stages of dandelion, which means you’ll control
very young dandelion seedlings as well as the bigger, well established plants. And it’s a lot easier to get
good coverage of dandelion with a post-harvest herbicide application simply because of the low to the ground
growth habit of dandelion.”
Preharvest spraying means the crop will shade the dandelion and the canopy can hinder herbicide penetration
into the weeds and reduce control, adds Arvel. “However, the preharvest timing is a good option for control
of other perennial weeds, such as Canada thistle and quack grass.”
Kristin Hacault, before she was a technical development specialist for BASF, did research on dandelion for
her Master’s at the University of Manitoba. She says you need to apply at least 3/4 of a liter of glyphosate
to do a proper job of controlling dandelions in stubble.
“My research shows that adding a top-up of common broadleaf herbicides doesn’t give significant extra control
of dandelions,” says Kristin. “I did see enhanced control of dandelions with additional top-up broadleaf chemicals,
but the results weren’t statistically different over the 3/4 L/ac. rate or higher rates of regular glyphosate alone.
“Another reason for spraying dandelions in the fall is that that’s when plants are preparing for winter and
herbicide translocation to the root is improved.”
We see a bright future for Kristen at
Bayer Advanced Herbicide Genocide
Dandelion Farm Failure
Adrian Wells of Wilton, Maine, considered himself a professional in a field that few of us willingly practice--
growing dandelions. Wells raised dandelions on a three-acre plot and sold them to restaurants who used them in
salads, cooked them as vegetables, and fermented them to make dandelion wine. Even though dandelions flourished
in his lawn and among his flowers, they dwindled and died on his dandelion farm.
"What I can't understand," Wells laments, "is how these things grow so well where you don't want them to,
but when you water and feed and weed them they give up and die." This is from
Alaska Science Forum, Dandelion Farm Failure
Doug Larson has the answer...
"A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill
except for learning how to grow in rows."
Dandelion Books
The Dandelion Celebration, This Fine Book Reveils Real Dandelion Secrets Of Life
Wikipedia's Excellent Dandelion Page
NEW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DANDELION PLANET BLOG
DANDELION PLANET !!!
