Dandelion

Dandelion - Taraxacum officinalis.
Perennial herbaceous plant up to 30 cm high, with a slightly branched taproot about 2 cm thick and about 60 cm long.
Dandelion officinalis leaves are naked, 10-25 cm long, 1.5-5 cm wide, and collected in a basal rosette.
The flower-bearing arrow is juicy, cylindrical, and hollow inside, ending in a single basket of reeds of both sexes of bright yellow flowers up to 5 cm in diameter.
The fruits are very light dry achenes, attached by a long thin rod to parachutes. Seeds are not firmly attached to the receptacle and are easily carried by the wind: parachute seeds fulfill their mission extremely accurately (during the flight, dandelion achenes do not sway or turn over: they are always down and, landing, are already ready for sowing).
The minimum temperature for seed germination is +2+4 °C. Dandelion shoots from achenes and shoots from buds on the root neck appear at the end of April and during the summer. Summer seedlings overwinter. Blooms in May-June. The maximum fertility of the plant is 12 thousand seeds, which germinate from a depth of no more than 4-5 cm.
Dandelion easily adapts to environmental conditions and survives safely, enduring trampling and grazing. It cannot be drowned out and pushed out by any other plants.
All parts of the plant contain a thick white juice that is bitter in taste. Dandelion blooms in May-June, and sometimes autumn flowering is observed.
Dandelion basket inflorescences behave differently both during the day and depending on the weather. In the afternoon and in wet weather, they close to keep the pollen from getting wet. In clear weather, the inflorescences open at 6 am and close at 3 pm. Thus, according to the state of dandelion inflorescences, you can quite accurately find out the time.

Dandelion roots are inulin-bearing plants, so when roasted, they can serve as a surrogate for coffee. This also includes earth pear tubers, chicory roots, and elecampane roots.
Summer harvest dandelion roots are unfit for consumption - they provide low-quality raw materials. When harvesting, the roots are dug up manually with a shovel or pitchfork. On dense soils, the roots are much thinner than on loose ones. Repeated harvesting at the same place is carried out no more often than after 2-3 years.
The dug-out dandelion roots are shaken off the ground, and the aerial part and thin lateral roots are removed and immediately washed in cold water. Then they are dried in the open air for several days (until the secretion of milky juice stops when cut).
Drying is usual: in attics or in a room with good ventilation, but best of all in a thermal dryer heated to +40+50 ° C. Raw materials are laid out in a layer of 3-5 cm and periodically turned over. The end of drying is determined by the fragility of the roots. The yield of dry raw materials is 33-35% by weight of freshly harvested. Shelf life up to 5 years.

Medicinal properties.
* Dandelion officinalis has a choleretic, antipyretic, laxative, expectorant, sedative, antispasmodic and mild hypnotic effect.
* An aqueous infusion of roots and leaves of dandelion improves digestion, appetite and general metabolism, enhances the secretion of milk in lactating women, and increases the overall tone of the body.
* Dandelion is recommended for diabetes, as a tonic for general weakness, and for the treatment of anaemia.
* Powder from dried dandelion roots is used to enhance the excretion of harmful substances from the body with sweat and urine, as an anti-sclerotic agent, for gout and rheumatism.
* A decoction, a thick extract is used as bitterness to enhance the secretion of the digestive glands and as a choleretic agent.
* Dandelion is used to treat hepatitis, cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, jaundice, gastritis, colitis, and cystitis, to improve appetite and digestion, for constipation, and flatulence, and also as an antihelminthic.
* Fresh leaves and leaf juice are recommended for the treatment of atherosclerosis, skin diseases, vitamin C deficiency and anaemia.
* An infusion of herbs along with roots is used for various diseases of the liver and gallbladder, tumours, dropsy, urolithiasis and haemorrhoids. An infusion of herbs is used for beriberi, as well as for various skin diseases: rashes, acne and furunculosis.
* Dandelion is also used internally and externally for furunculosis, eczema, skin rashes. Oil tincture of dandelion roots is used as a remedy for the treatment of burns, and when removing warts and corn, the milky sap of the plant is applied topically.
For medicinal purposes, dandelion root (Radix Taraxaci), leaves, grass and juice are used. Leaves, grass and juice are harvested in June, and roots - in early spring or late autumn at the stage of leaf wilt (dry in dryers at a temperature of + 40 + 50 ° C).

Bot. syn.: Leontodon taraxacum L., Taraxacum vulgare Schrank.