Dandelion

 Dandelion 

Dandelions are an awesome little plant, they often get treated as weeds and ripped out of gardens. Dandelions are actually mega important; they're  the first source of food for bees and other pollinating insects. For us humans Dandelions are a fantastic food source. The whole of a dandelion is edible, you can eat the leaves, though personally I remove the central vein because it’s quite bitter. The flowers are also edible if you pick the buds before they open you can pickle them to make little capers. Once the flowers have opened, the green bit at the bottom is quite bitter, so I just pull off the petals and add them to a sugar syrup to make honey. However it’s the roots which are the best bit, so if you are intent on ridding them from your garden then make sure to eat the roots. You can treat them just as you would a parsnip roast them or mash them. You can also make Dandelion root coffee which is absolutely delicious. If you are pulling up the roots, make sure you ask landowners permission to uproot them.

Identifying features for Dandelion

• Rosette of long toothed leaves The depth of the tooth depends on the variety of Dandelion, some Are more rounded than others

• A single yellow flower with lots of long thin petals set on top of a long rounded stem

• The flower head then closes up to protect the developing seeds

• The seed head is a fluffy white pom-pom, with a teardrop shaped seed at the base of a fluffy white parachute known as a dandelion clock

• The stems produce a white liquid known as a latex when you snap them

If you have all of these features, it’s likely you have a dandelion

Lookalikes for dandelions

Thistles

Ragwort

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