We need to celebrate our backyard biodiversity
For a few short weeks every spring, our greenspaces put on an incredible show of beautiful yellow blossoms.
Dandelions survive and thrive on every continent except Antarctica, reproducing through multiple stems springing from the deep taproot and launching lovely parasols that can fly hundreds of kilometres away.
Taraxacum officinale are known worldwide by many different names: dente-de-lion, pissenlit, pisacan, maskros, Irish daisy, löwenzahn and more.
They were brought to North
America by early pioneers as a medicinal plant and early food crop. Every part is edible or usable: the flowers are used in cooking and to make wine; the leaves are delicious, nutritious, and slightly bitter greens to eat raw or cooked; and the roots are best harvested after a fall frost to be roasted and ground into a caffeine-free coffee substitute.
The stems contain a latex-like substance that, in some varieties — yes, there are more than one — can be processed to make rubber.
Check out americanrubber.com for their story on creating a commercially viable domestic source for dandelion-based rubber.
Dandelions have long been used in traditional Chinese and herbal medicine, often as a diuretic as per its French name pissenlit (pee-in-the-bed). Limited research found on the National Library of Medicine website shows some promising physiological effects on Type 2 diabetes, obesity and cancer cells.
University of Windsor researchers found “that dandelion root extract (DRE), lemongrass extract (LGE), and hibiscus extract (HE) exhibit selective anti-cancer activity. These extracts were also able to enhance the anticancer efficacy of common chemotherapeutics and protect normal healthy cells from toxicity.”
As always, this is preliminary research, and all medical issues should be taken up with a trusted licensed medical practitioner.
Although multiple Dandelion Festivals are just a memory, the intent is just as important now as it was then: we need to increase and celebrate biodiversity in our own backyards. That means reducing or replacing monoculture (grass-only) lawns with native plants, shrubs and trees to create pollinatorand bird-friendly spaces.
Dandelions may not be native to North America, but they provide ecological benefits, besides being edible to humans and yard bunnies — hopefully distracting them from eating the veggies you planted.
The dandelion taproot, which can grow up to a metre, brings up nutrients from the deep and helps break up compacted soil. If you practice No-Mow May to provide dandelions as an important first food for bees, this is “mostly true” according to Snopes, a reliable source for myth-busting.
If you lean to the esoteric, an image making the social media rounds shows dandelions as the only flower that symbolizes the sun (yellow flower), the moon (the puffball) and the stars (the seeds dispersing).
So why not embrace your inner child? Make a crown of dandelion flowers, look up dandelion recipes for your next meal and make a wish on a dandelion. Then treat yourself to some Mapleton’s dandelion ice cream to fully appreciate why dandelions deserve your love.