Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

Dandelion is a relatively recent addition to the medicinal repertoire, and wasn’t mentioned in Chinese herbals until the 7^th century, or in Europe until 1486.  The name dandelion was apparently invented by a 15^th-century surgeon, who compared the shape of the leaves to a lion’s tooth, or dens leonis.  Dandelion is considered weed in most yards and gardens but we should rethink the dandelion dilemma.  They are high in nutrition and minerals, as well as having medicinal qualities.  The Colorado cities of Aspen and Carbondale have declared it illegal to spray herbicides to eradicate dandelions.  They are suggesting that people eat the health-giving plants instead.

Family:  Asteraceae
Life cycle:  Herbaceous perennial.  Zone 3-9.
Native:  Europe and Asia, but it is now one of the few plants that can truly
claim pan-global dissemination.
Height:  8-24 inches
Sun:  Full sun to partial shade.
Soil:  Any soil.  Responds to fertility.
Water:  Low to moderate.  Will respond to increased water, and lack of competition from other plants.
Flowers:  Bright yellow flowers bloom continuously throughout the season but primarily in the early spring, and again in the fall.  Flowers attract bees.  Likes cool temperatures.
Propagation:  Easy to grow from seed.  No treatment needed, but stratification of 1 week will raise the germination rate to 90%.  Sow directly in the field or start seed indoors and then transplant out in mid-late spring. Plant ¼” deep, four days to germination. Space 10-12 inches apart. Reseeding will be vigorous.  Seed only maintains viability for one year or less.
Pests:  No major insect or disease pests observed in the field, but human intervention is always a possibility.  Numerous herbicides have been developed to take dandelions out of lawns, and even helpful neighbors may think you have a “weed” growing in your garden, and take it out.
Harvesting:   Harvest leaves any time, and roots in the fall or early spring.  One source recommends leaf harvest in the spring of thesecond year, and roots in the fall of the second year.  Can dig with a needle nose spade or other mechanical digging device.  In the home garden, harvest leaves by hand at any time for fresh salads or tea.  Some people develop skin sensitivity to the white, milky sap, but one of the folk uses of dandelion was to apply the sap to warts. 
Parts used:  Whole plant fresh or dried.  Leaves and roots also used separately.  Dandelion wine is made from the fresh blossoms, with the green calyx removed.  The medicinal herb market focus is on the leaf and root of the plant, and there doesn’t appear to be any medical literature about the flowers or wine.
Used as:  Infusion, decoction, elixir, extract, infused oil, honey, tincture, and medicinal food.
Medicinal benefits:  Whole body tonic. Benefits the liver, urinary tract, and the skin.  Approved for use in Europe for dyspeptic complaints, infections of the urinary tract, liver and gallbladder complaints, and loss of appetite.  Folk use included for disturbance in bile flow, inflammatory conditions of the urinary tract, gout, rheumatic disorders, eczema and other skin disorders.  The high potassium, vit. A, and vit. C content of the leaves makes this a valuable food.
Market Potential:  High.  Prices range from $4.10-$21.60 for leaf, and $4.10-$30.85 for root, per lb dw.  However, local markets can also be tapped, and I’ve seen the greens sold for $5.00 per lb fresh weight in a grocery store in eastern Kansas, and they came from California!!
 

KSU Field Trial Data - 2000-2002.  

 Summary of field trial data:   Though literature values of up to  3,000 lb/acre dw (tops or leaves) have been reported, our values were far below that, at 400-600 lb/acre leaves, and around 700 lb/acre roots (dw).  A yield of 3000 lb/A should be achievable however, since at a planting density of 29,000 per acre, plants would only need to weigh 47 g.  This species was tested at 5 sites for one year, and is in its second year of testing at 2 sites.  We found a lot of site-to-site variability in the plant, mainly due to access to moisture; for example drip irrigated plants at Colby yielded 35 g/plant in year 1 as compared to 5 g/plant at Olathe, a dryland site.  We also observed rabbit feeding at some locations, and were not able to quantify losses due to rabbits.  Our fairly low survival rate is probably not accurate, as many times our enthusiastic volunteer help did not realize that the dandelion was a crop in this experiment, and not a weed.

 You may be wondering, as you read this, why plant dandelions at all, when they are in the lawn already?  The main reason is that when dandelions are planted at 12” or more spacing, weeded, watered, and fertilized, they can get as big as basketballs.  This cuts down on harvesting costs, which are a big input in the medicinal herb business.  It would take about 100 or more dandelions from my lawn to weigh as much as one of the dandelions from our best field plots.  Yes, seed will be produced on these plants, but it is only viable for one year, and aren’t there plenty of other sources of dandelion seed in your neighborhood already?  You could also harvest the blossoms prior to seeding for a batch of dandelion wine, and then give some to the neighbors to help appease their dand-de-phobia.