Dandelion: Word Origin & Fun Facts

Photo by flo and medandelion (dan-dl-ahy-uhn) - noun

The dandelion is "a weedy composite plant, Taraxacum officinale, having edible, deeply toothed or notched leaves, golden-yellow flowers, and rounded clusters of white, hairy seeds."

Dandelion meaning "lion's tooth" - referring to the plant's indented leaf - was the old English name for this flower, but the French renamed it dent de lion in the 16th century. Since the French dent de was pronounced dan de, the word soon became dandelion.

Another theory is that the dandelion's name derives not from its indented leaves, but from its huge, white, tooth like root. In modern French the dandelion is called pissenlit, or "wet-the-bed," from the belief that eating dandelion greens at dinner results in nocturnal bedwetting.

Certain species of dandelion plants produce seeds asexually by a process called apomixis, where seeds of the plant are produced without the process of pollination. This also results in younger plants that have similar genetic pattern as the parent plant. Dandelion seeds are often transported away by a gust of wind and they travel like tiny parachutes. On a breezy day, a really strong wind can transport these tiny parachutes miles away from the parent dandelion plant.

Dandelion flowers are photosensitive; they bloom under the morning sun and close in the evening or in dull, gloomy conditions.

"If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em" is a phrase that has been applied over the years to the gardener's perennial battle against weeds, most recently by Dr. James Duke, a botanist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dr. Duke, quoted in Anne Raver's gardening column in the New York Times, made the remark specifically in reference to dandelions, which made a dandy salad and wine, among other comestibles.

Photo by aussiegall