Dandelion / Taraxacum

Dandelion

Taraxacum

    The dandelion is originally from Eurasia, but has been brought with and cultivated in just about every area that humans have been to as a staple food and medicine. The rather bitter, even in it's best stages of growth the plant is nutritious, high in vitamins A, C and K and is a great source of calcium, potassium, iron and antioxidants.
    While all species of dandelion are edible, the best ones have wider leaves and a bright green color. Though the thin leafed plant with a dull green color (more prevalent in my experience) is still edible, though you may want to boil it in several changes of water to help with the bitterness. Dandelions are best collected in early spring, though you can still find young plants growing through out the year. Once the plant is older it will become far more bitter even to the point of being unpalatable.
    There are similar looking flowers called 'false dandelion', this unofficial term actually refers to several other plants with similar looking flowers, though that have multiple flowers on one plant, something you will not see on a dandelion, so they are fairly easy to avoid.

    The flower, leaves and root of the dandelion are edible, though you may want to remove the green skirt from below the flower. While not toxic, even on young plants it is very bitter. The root of the dandelion can be eaten raw, cooked or dried and crushed into a coffee (caffeine free) extender. The flowers can also be used to make a dandelion wine, something I'll have to try one of these days. The leaves can be eaten raw, though are usually better blanched or boiled especially as the plant matures and becomes more bitter.

    Dandelion has been used for a millennia as a medicine usually treating inflammation and stomach ailments, though new studies have suggested it may be good for many other things. If you're interested in the medicinal uses of dandelion, check out the webmd page here.