Botanical Name
- Family Asteraceae (formerly Compositae)
- Taraxacum officinale
Common Names
- Blowball, Cankerwort, Lion’s Tooth, Priest’s Crown, Swine Snout, Wild Endive, Taraxacum, Puff-Ball, Sin In The Grass, Diente de León (Spanish), Pu Gong Ying (Chinese)
Cautions
- Do not use the plant unless sure it is free of chemical sprays.
- If sucked excessively by children, the milky juice can cause nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, as well as excessive urination.
Description
There are considered to be about 600 species of dandelion found throughout the world where, in many cases, it is considered a noxious weed. One seed from a dandelion blown by the wind can start 200 or more new plants. It is also cultivated in many parts, including France and Germany.
The plant is closely related to chicory, a perennial growing to as much as twenty inches high producing ragged, saw-toothed leaves, hollow stalks, and golden flowers that quickly go to seed, leaving a “puffball” head that is dispersed in the breeze. The young leaves are picked in the spring for tonic salads and later for use as a medicine, while the roots are unearthed in autumn from two-year-old plants.
Key Actions
(a) Leaves
(b) Root
- antirheumatic
- diuretic
- liver tonic
- mildly laxative
- promotes bile flow
Key Components
(a) Flowers and Seeds
- vitamins A, B, C, and D (containing over 13,000 IU of vitamin A in 100 grams).
- sequiterpene lactones
- triterpenes
- bitter glycosides
(b) Leaves
- carotenoids
- coumarins
- choline
- flavonoids
- minerals (including calcium, iron, potassium, silicon, boron, magnesium, and zinc)
(c) Roots
- tannins
- triterpenes
- sterols
- volatile oil
- choline
- asparagine
- inulin
Medicinal Parts
- Leaves, flowers, fresh seeds, root
- Chinese scientists have discovered that dandelion extracts have bactericidal effects against a number of nasty bacteria including S. aureus and those responsible for diphtheria, tuberculosis, and pneumonia.
Remedies
Fresh leaves are eaten as a vegetable in salads as a cleansing remedy.
Juice from the leaves is taken when a diuretic action is needed.
An infusion is less effective, as a diuretic, than the juice; but it makes a good cleansing remedy for toxic conditions, including gout and eczema. It is also used as a gentle liver and digestive stimulant.
The white sap from the stem and root can be used as a topical remedy for warts.
Tinctures are often added to other herbal remedies for heart failure and to ensure adequate potassium intake.
Tinctures from the roots are used for such toxic conditions as gout, eczema, or acne; and are also prescribed as a liver stimulant in certain liver disorders and related constipation.
Decoctions from the root are used for the same conditions as the tincture.
Traditional Uses
In China, the flowers, leaves, root, and seed heads of either the common dandelion or from an Oriental species (T. mongolicum). The Chinese have used dandelions for more than a thousand years as a diuretic, hypoglycemic, antispasmodic, anticancer, antibacterial, and antifungal agent. It was used for such conditions as abscesses, appendicitis, boils, caries, dermatitis, fevers, inflammations, leucorrhea, liver ailments, mastitis, scrofula, snakebites, and stomachaches.
Although the leaves are an effective diuretic, they also contain significant amounts of potassium, a mineral generally lost when using conventional medications. It is used in cases of fluid retention, especially with heart problems. It has been used successfully to treat several kidney ailments and chronic hypertension.
The leaves are an effective liver and digestive tonic. The root, which has a shorter history of medicinal use, is also good for the liver.
Both the leaf and the root have a marked action on the gallbladder, and are used to prevent gallstones. The leaf may also help dissolve already formed stones.
The bitter, milky sap is used externally to heal wounds, remove warts, moles, pimples, calluses, and sores. It is also used to soothe bee stings and blisters.
The sap, leaves, and root extracts are ingested for its diuretic properties, to stimulate stomach secretions and aid in digestion, to relieve constipation and control diarrhea, to stimulate bile production, to treat liver disorders, to prevent or lower high blood pressure, to stimulate milk flow in nursing mothers, to relieve the pain of endometriosis, and to inhibit plaque buildup on teeth.
In Costa Rica, dandelions are sold as a treatment for diabetes.
In Guatemala, two different types of dandelions are used. The narrow-leafed variety, called diente de leon, is used as a tonic for generalized body health, while the other variety, called amargon, is used as a salad green and blood strengthener, especially in cases of anemia.
In Brazil, the herb is also used as a blood purifier used to treat liver problems, scurvy, and urinary complaints.
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