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While it may be cursed by gardeners, the dandelion, a common weed in lawns and meadows throughout the world's temperate regions, is actually lauded by herbalists.

Dandelion boosters claim the plant has a host of beneficial properties. A tea boiled from its root is said to cure indigestion and allay both infection and skin disease. Dandelion juice has been used as a topical agent for the removal of warts, blisters and freckles. The greens, containg four times the iron of spinach, are grown and sold for salads. The plant's diuretic properties earned it the rather graphic contemporary French name pissenlit, "piss the bed."

But for those who crave the uniform green of a dandelion-free lawn, the sight of these bright yellow flowers scattered about the grass is anathema. Most American gardeners are given to attacking the persistent plant with sharp digging implements and herbicides.

The English name for this species comes from an older French term, dent de lion, or "tooth of the lion," a reference to the deeply notched leaves of the plant which were said to resemble the jagged dental display of the lion. And the same meaning is found in the German name of the plant, Lowenzahn.

Radio Script > Dandelion