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Dandelion
(Taraxacum
officinal)
COMMON NAMES: Blow ball, cankerwort, lion’s tooth, priest’s crown, puffball, swine snout, white endive, and wild endive.
MEDICINAL PART: Plant
DESCRIPTION: The dandelion is a perennial plant found, to the dismay of many, almost everywhere. The oblong or spatulate, irregularly dentate or pinnatifid leaves grow in a rosette from the milky taproot, which also sends up one or more naked flower stems, each terminating in a single yellow flower. The familiar puffball that succeeds the flower is a globular cluster of achene’s, each of which is fitted with a parachute-like tuft.
PROPERTIES AND USES: Aperient, cholagogue, diuretic, stomachache, tonic. Dandelion has two particularly important uses: to promote the formation of bile and to remove excess water from the body in edemous conditions resulting from liver problems. The root especially affects all forms of secretion and excretion from the body. By acting to remove poisons from the body, it acts as a tonic and stimulant as well. The fresh juice is most effective, but dandelion is also prepared as a tea. Lukewarm dandelion tea has been recommended for dyspepsia with constipation, fever, insomnia, and hypochondria. An infusion of the fresh root is said to be good for gallstones, jaundice, and other liver problems. Dandelion leaves are popular and healthful as salad greens, especially in springtime. For chronic rheumatism, gout, and stiff joints, follows and eight-week dandelion cure as described below.
Dandelion green has been much used in the same way as spinach or fresh green salad. Dandelion has twenty-eight parts sodium. The natural nutritive salts purify the blood and destroy acids in the blood. Anemia is caused by the deficiency of nutritive salts in the blood, and really has nothing to do with the quantity of the good blood. Dandelion contains these nutritive salts. It is one of the old well known remedies. The root is used to increase the flow of urine, and is slightly laxative. It is a splendid remedy for jaundice and skin diseases, scurvy, scrofula, and eczema. Useful in all kinds of kidney trouble, diabetes, dropsy, inflammation of the bowels, and fever. Has a beneficial effect on the female organs. Increases the activity of the liver, pancreas, and spleen, especially in enlargement of the liver and spleen. The ground roots make and excellent substitute for coffee.
PREPARATION AND DOSAGE: Use the whole plant before it flowers, the leaves during flowering, and the root alone in the fall.
Infusion: Steep 2 tsp plant or root in 1 cup boiling water. Take 1/2 to 1 cup a day, lukewarm or cold.
Decoction: Use 4 oz. fresh plant with 2 pints water; boil down gently to 1 pint and strain. Take 3 tbsp., six times a day.
Cold Extract: Use 2 tsp. plant with one-cup water; let stand for 8 hours.
Juice: For a spring tonic, take 1 tsp. juice pressed from the leaves in milk, one to three times a day. An electric vegetable juicer is helpful.
Dandelion Cure: Use 2 tsp. fresh root and leaves with 1/2-cup water; boil briefly and then steep for 15 minutes. Take 1/2 cup, morning and evening. In addition, take daily 1 to 2 glasses of water with 3 tbsp. juice (pressed from root and leaves) per glass. Use dandelion leaves in salad.
