16th March: Day of the Dandelion

Today is the Day of the Dandelion in the French Revolutionary calendar. Here are 10 things you might not know about dandelions.

1. The name "dandelion" comes from the French words for Lion's tooth (dent de lion) because the leaves resemble lion's teeth.
2. There are many more folk names for the plant including blowball, cankerwort, doon-head-clock, witch's gowan, milk witch, lion's-tooth, yellow-gowan, Irish daisy, monks-head, priest's-crown , puff-ball, faceclock, pee-a-bed (from the root's diuretic properties) swine's snout, white endive, and wild endive.
3. The Yellow flowers are actually a large number of very small flowers clumped together. The individual flowers are called florets.
4. All parts of the plant can be eaten or used for medicinal purposes. The leaves can taste quite bitter, so may need to be blanched, like Spinach, first. You'll no doubt have heard that dandelion wine can be made from the flowers, but did you know you can also get dandelion coffee? It's made from the roots and doesn't contain caffeine. The white sap was used as a cure for warts and corns. Dandelion leaves contain abundant vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins A, C and K, and are good sources of calcium, Potassium, Iron and manganese.
5. Although largely considered to be weeds, they are actually beneficial, not only because of their medicinal uses but they also benefit other plants. The deep tap roots gardeners hate bring nutrients up into the soil and make them available to shallow rooted plants. Bees and Butterflies love them, and while they're feasting on dandelions they might just pollinate some other plants, too.
6. There are superstitions and folklore attached to dandelions. While most brides today wouldn't think of including dandelions in their bouquets, dandelions in a wedding bouquet actually symbolise good luck. In dreams, they represent happy unions.
7. In Medieval times, holding a dandelion flower under the chin of a child was a test to see if they would grow up to be rich. A golden glow on the skin meant they would be wealthy. In the 18th century, it was a measure of how sweet and kind the child was.
8. Blowing on the seed heads, or clocks, gives rise to a whole raft of legends and superstitions. The seeds carry your thoughts and affections to your loved ones. If you can blow all the seeds off in one blow it means "he loves you." Or it might mean you won't have any children (the number of seeds still stuck to the stem is said to indicate how many children a woman will have...) or are going to die soon (... or how many years you have left to live). If you make a wish before you blow, it will come true.
9. Dandelion is said to increase psychic abilities when taken as a tea. A tea of the roots left steaming and placed beside the bed will call spirits.
10. You can predict the weather with them. The hairs on the seeds react to moisture in the air, so when it is fine and dry, they open up and you get the fluffy round clocks. When it is wet, they close up like an Umbrella, and won't open again until the showers are over.