Lions Teeth

The English name dandelion is a corruption of the French dent de lion meaning "lion's tooth", referring to the coarsely toothed leaves. The names of the plant have the same meaning in several other European languages, such as the Welsh dant y llew, Italian dente di leone, Catalan dent de lleó, Spanish diente de león, Portuguese dente-de-leão,Norwegian Løvetann, Danish Løvetand and German Löwenzahn.

In modern French the plant is named pissenlit, (or pisse au lit). Likewise, "piss-a-bed" is an English folk-name for this plant, as is piscialletto in Italian and the Spanish meacamas. These names refer to the strong diuretic effect of the roots of the herb, roasted or raw/fresh. In various north-eastern Italian dialects the plant is known as pisacan ("dog pisses"), referring to how common they are found at the side of pavements.

After flowering is finished, the dandelion flower head dries out for a day or two. The dried petals and stamens drop off, the bracts reflex, and the parachute ball opens into a full sphere. Finally, the seed-bearing parachutes expand and lift out of it.


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