Dandelion
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Article
| Dandelion | ||||||||||||||
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| Taraxacum officinale | ||||||||||||||
 the common dandelion
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A dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is a short plant, usually with a yellow flower head and notched leaves. A dandelion flower head consists of many tiny flowers. The dandelion is native to Europe and Asia, and has spread to many other places. The dandelion is also known by its generic name Taraxacum. In Northern areas and places where the dandelion is not native, it reproduces asexually.
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[edit] Identification
Dandelion (Taraxacum) is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They are taprooted biennial or perennial herbaceous plants, native to temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere of the Old World.
There are two ways to differentiate the Common Dandelion from from other look-alike plants - commonly members of the Sunflower family. Firstly, Dandelions do not have a branching stalk. The leaves radiate out from the taproot in a rosette configuration. Secondly, look for a smooth, not spiny or fuzzy leaf surface.
[edit] Leaves
The leaves are 5-25 cm long, simple and basal, entire or lobed, forming a rosette above the central taproot. As the leaves grow outward they push down the surrounding vegetation, such as grass in a lawn, killing the vegetation by cutting off the sunlight. Spoon-shaped. Toothed. Smooth surface.
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[edit] Flowers
A bright yellow flower head (inflorescence) opens in the daytime but closes at night. It sits singly on a hollow stem (scape) which rises 4-30 cm above the leaves and exudes a milky latex sap when broken. A rosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower head measures 2-5 cm in diameter and consists entirely of ray florets.
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[edit] Fruits
Bracts (sometimes mistaken for sepals) surround the flower head in two series. The inner bracts remain erect until the seeds mature, then flex down to allow the seeds to disperse; the outer bracts always reflex downward. Some species drop the "parachute" (called a pappus, modified sepals) from the achenes. Between the pappus and the achene, there is a stalk called beak, which elongates as the fruit matures. The beak breaks off from the achene quite easily.
[edit] Other Information
The genus is taxonomically very complex, with numerous macrospecies, and polyploidy is also common; over 250 species have been recorded in the British Isles alone.[1] Some botanists take a much narrower viewpoint, and only accept a total of about 60 species.
Dandelions are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera.
Away from their native regions, they have become established in the Americas, Australia and New Zealand as weeds. They are now common plants throughout all temperate regions.
[edit] Name
The name dandelion is derived from the Old French, dent-de-lion, which is literally "lion's tooth", referring to the sharply-lobed leaves of the plant. The English spelling reflects the French pronunciation at the time this French word was absorbed into English. The first written usage of the word occurs in an herbal dated 1373, but there is a 1363 document in which the word "dandelion" was used as a proper name (Willelmus Dawndelyon).
In German, the dandelion is called Löwenzahn, which is also translated as "lion's tooth." In modern French the plant is called pissenlit, which means "urinate in bed", apparently referring to its diuretic properties. Likewise, "pissabeds" is an English folkname for this plant, and "piscialletto" is one of its folknames in Italian (with "dente di leone", meaning "lion's tooth"). Similarly in Spanish, it is known as the "meacamas", but also commonly "diente de león".
[edit] False Dandelions
Dandelions are so similar to catsears (Hypochoeris) that catsears are also known as "false dandelions". Both plants carry similar flowers which form into windborne seeds. However, catsear flowering stems are forked and solid, whereas dandelions possess unforked stems that are hollow. Both plants have a rosette of leaves and a central taproot. However, the leaves of dandelions are jagged in appearance, whereas those of catsear are more lobe-shaped and hairy.
Other plants with similar flowers include hawkweeds (Hieracium) and hawksbeards (Crepis). These are both readily distinguished by their branched flowering stems.
[edit] Uses
While the dandelion is considered a weed by many gardeners, the plant does have several culinary and medicinal uses. Dandelions are grown commercially at a small scale as a leaf vegetable. The plant can be eaten cooked or raw in various forms, such as in soup or salad. They are probably closest in character to mustard greens. Usually the young leaves and unopened buds are eaten raw in salads, while older leaves are cooked. Raw leaves have a slightly bitter taste. Dandelion salad is often accompanied with hard boiled eggs. The leaves are high in vitamin A, vitamin C and iron, carrying more iron and calcium than spinach.[2]
Dandelion flowers can be used to make dandelion wine. The recipe usually contains citrus fruit. Another recipe using the plant is dandelion flower jam. Ground roasted dandelion root can be used as a coffee substitute. Drunk before meals, it is believed to stimulate digestive functions. Sold in most health food stores, often in a mixture, it is considered an excellent cleansing tonic for the liver.
Dandelion root is a registered drug in Canada, sold as a diuretic. A leaf decoction can be drunk to "purify the blood", for the treatment of anemia, jaundice, and also for nervousness. The milky latex has been used as a mosquito repellent; the milk is also applied to warts, helping get rid of them without damaging the surrounding skin. A dye can also be obtained from the roots of the plant. A new mixture of roasted roots is sold as a product called DandyBlend which tastes like coffee after the inulin in the dandelion is roasted.
This plant also is useful in farming, because its deep, strong roots break up hardpan.
[edit] Biochemical Characteristics
[edit] Antioxidant Properties
Dandelion contains Luteolin, an antioxidant, and has demonstrated antioxidant properties without cytotoxicity.[3]
[edit] Caffeic Acid and Carcinogenicity
Caffeic acid is a secondary plant metabolite produced in dandelion, yarrow, horsetail and whitethorn. Despite its name, it is totally unrelated to caffeine. Recent studies have revealed this acid may be carcinogenic. Caffeic acid was tested for carcinogenicity by oral administration in mice, it produced renal cell adenomas in females, and a high incidence of renal tubular cell hyperplasia in animals of each sex.[4] However, more recent research shows that bacteria present in the rats' guts may alter the formation of metabolites of Caffeic acid. [5][6] Also, there have been no known ill-effects of Caffeic acid in humans.
[edit] Internal Links
[edit] Sources
Attribution
- Tracts of article copied from Wikipedia:Dandelion licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License
Wiki Authors
Books
- Pojar, J. and MacKinnon, A. Plants of Coastal British Columbia Vancouver, BC : Lone Pine Publishing, 1994 ISBN 1-55105-042-0
- Tilford, G. Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1997 ISBN 0-87842-359-1
- Gail, Peter. The Dandelion Celebration: A Guide to Unexpected Cuisine. Cleveland, Ohio: Goosefoot Acres Press, 1994. ISBN 1-879863-51-0.
Web
- How to cook dandelions ~ at Wikibooks
- Dandelion Poetry, Folklore, Literature, and Pictures
- Dandelion at Plants For A Future
- a university of Wisconsin article on dandelions
- Chun Hu and David D. Kitts. Food, Nutrition and Health, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. October 2004. Luteolin and luteolin-7-O-glucoside from dandelion flower suppress iNOS and COX-2 in RAW264.7 cells. Springer Netherlands. 245:1-2(107-113)
References
- ^ Richards, A. J. 1972. The Taraxacum flora of the British Isles. Watsonia 9 (supplement): 1-141.
- ^ Foraging with the "Wildman": Common Dandelion.
- ^ Chun Hu and David D. Kitts. Food, Nutrition and Health, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. October 2004. Luteolin and luteolin-7-O-glucoside from dandelion flower suppress iNOS and COX-2 in RAW264.7 cells. Springer Netherlands. 245:1-2(107-113). [1]
- ^ Caffeic acid phenethyl ester is a potent and specific inhibitor of activation of nuclear transcription factor NF-kappa B., Natarajan K, Singh S, Burke TR Jr, Grunberger D, Aggarwal BB., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A., 1996 Aug 20;93(17):9090-5.
- ^ http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/69/6/1413
- ^ http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/133/6/1853
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