THE LAST WORD
If I told you these bright yellow wild flowers can look quite exotic, and the fluffy seed heads are delicate and ethereal, would you think you’d be the envy of your neighbours?
If I told you the plant name is derived from the French ‘dent de lion’ as the jaggedly-toothed leaves were thought to resemble the teeth in a lion’s jaw, would you roll that name around on your tongue?
If I told you this was a plant world-famous for its beauty back in the day, a beloved garden flower in Europe, and the subject of many poems, would you start to imagine a romantic bouquet?
If I told you, whole horticultural societies formed in Japan to enjoy the beauty of the flower, and to develop exciting new varieties for gardeners, would you want to know where to sign up?
If I told you the use of this plant in the healing arts goes back millennia, and that people have been using it as a tonic to help the body’s liver remove toxins from the bloodstream, would you want to get some?
If I told you herbalists hail it as the perfect plant medicine: a gentle diuretic that provides nutrients and helps the digestive system function at peak efficiency, would be looking to pace a bulk order?
If I told you they are more nutritious than most of the vegetables in your garden, containing more vitamin A than spinach, more vitamin C than tomatoes, and are packed with iron, calcium, and potassium, would you want to grow it in the garden or allotment?
If I told you, during the Second World War, when coffee was almost unobtainable, a substitute was made from the roasted and ground roots of this plant, would you be tempted to try some?
If I told you this plant is a master of survival, taking root in places that seem little short of miraculous, would you be thinking of a great spot for it in your garden?
If I told you it is a fast growing perennial with a long lifespan, would you be thinking it sounds like great value for money?
If I told you it is often hailed as the first sign of spring, would you start to look out for it?
If I told you it naturalises in lawns, and its wide-spreading roots loosen hard-packed soil, aerate the earth, and help reduce erosion, as well as pulling nutrients such as calcium from deep in the soil to make available to other plants, would you be already adding it to your wish list?
If told you before the invention of lawns, people praised the golden blossoms and lion-toothed leaves of this plant as a bounty of food and medicine, often weeding out grass to allow more room for it to naturalise, would you start to feel ridiculous for not having it already?
If I told you that sometime in the twentieth century, humans decided that Taraxacum officinale, was a weed, are you already googling it?
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