Taming the Lion
by Norma A. Hubbard (June 2017)
When I lived in Lachine, I had a neighbour who bothered me to no end with her use of pesticides and herbicides – and she equally hated my lawn for all it naturalized plants. Each spring my lawn would be covered with pretty violets and bright yellow dandelions (Taraxacum officinale). Of course, I would dig up most of the dandelions, but this prolific plant was not easily tamed and there were always a few who escaped me. Now that I have a huge lawn, well, let’s just say the dandelions have the upper hand, but this is fine because the bees have plenty of flowers to enjoy before more ‘welcome’ flowers appear.
As this pesky plant can be found just about everywhere, it is hard to imagine it is not native to our country, but it isn’t. Around the 1600’s Europeans brought it over because of its nutritional properties. In addition to iron, potassium, and zinc, this plant has vitamins A, B, C, and D. All parts of the plant can be used; the leaves in salads, roots for coffee substitute, and wine can be made from the flowers; I can remember when I was a kid getting sticky yellow hands from picking the flowers for my father to make wine! There are companies that commercially produce dandelion leaves for salads, but you can just harvest your own. While the leaves may be used in salads, it is the flower that has antioxidants. On sunny days the dandelion flowers open to face the sun and will close as the sun sets, or if it’s an overcast day, they might not open at all.
There are many cultures that use dandelions for medical purposes – treatments from kidney disease to stomach problems to remedies for fever, boils or even diarrhea – the list is long. However, there aren’t any current, quality scientific studies to support most of these claims to cure, so I would not recommend dandelions for medical use. In fact, according to the University of Maryland, dandelion may not mix well with some modern medication, so it always advisable to ask your doctor before using any natural substances – natural doesn’t always mean safe, even arsenic is natural.
One of the reasons dandelions spread so rapidly is due to its hardiness and its seed distribution. Each flower can produce plenty of seeds that do not have to be pollinated to reproduce. And who hasn’t blown on a dandelion when it’s in seed to watch the seeds fly away! Each seed has little ‘teeth’ to help to anchor it to the ground when it lands. After blowing on the seeds, some people make a wish, and folklore has it that the amount of seeds that remain on the stem will be the number of years you have left to live!
Dandelion gets its name from the French term, “dent de lion” meaning “tooth of the lion” as some thought the leaves looked like a lion’s mouth. Due to its diuretic properties, another French term used for dandelion is “pissenlit” meaning “pee the bed”!
As the summer progresses and many of us try to tame these little ‘lions’ on our lawns, most likely it will be a losing battle.
As always, I don’t suggest using herbicides, but there are some natural ways to reduce their numbers. Pour hot water on the plants, this works even better when mixed with some vinegar, or dig them up, or just mow them – even if some come back, it does eliminate many. In the end, don’t look at these plants as weeds, instead just enjoy the bright yellow flowers and make a wish.
photos : Norma Hubbard
Sources : University of Maryland, www.umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/dandelion;
CBC News www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/