Dandelion

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale.

Common name: Priest's crown, swine's snout.

Occurrence:

widely found across the northern temperate zone in pastures, meadows and waste ground.

Parts used:

the root and leaves. The main constituents of the root are taraxacin, a bitter substance, and taraxacerin, an acid resin, along with the sugar inulin.

Medicinal uses:

diuretic, tonic and slightly aperient. It acts as a general body stimulant, but chiefly acts on the liver and kidneys. Dandelion is used as a bitter tonic in atonic dyspepsia as a mild laxative and to promote increased appetite and digestion. The herb is best used in combination with other herbs and is used in many patent medicines. Roasted dandelion root is also used as a coffee substitute and helps ease dyspepsia, gout and rheumatism.

Administered as:

fluid extract, decoction, infusion, tincture, solid extract and juice.