Don’t blow off dandelions! They’re more than the puffed-up balls of fluff you find in fields... in fact, this often-overlooked plant has a subtly sweet and delicate taste that’s been enjoyed for centuries. So let’s dive into the benefits of dandelion tea.
What is dandelion?
When you see a dandelion, you’ll know! The sun-yellow flowers with the jagged green leaves that pop up in the cracks of our sidewalks grow almost everywhere in the world. While you may not recognise the blooms, their familiarity has been boosted by generations of kids blowing on their powder-puff seed heads (you might know them as ‘blowballs’) to spread the tiny parachute-like seeds.Thought to be originally from Greece, dandelions now grow all over the world as wildflowers. You’ll find them on sidewalks and in meadows, along forests and in gardens—wherever there’s earth and a spot of sunlight. Their name comes the French “dent-de-lion”, meaning “lion’s tooth”, inspired by the plant’s distinctive leaves. The plant goes by all sorts of other weird and wonderful names, too, including Irish daisy, clock flower, puffball and cankerwort.