66 FL0\VI-:RS 0I<" the FIF,r,DS AND MKADOWS 



'J\xyaxacn>ii. Loniccrus, may l)e from ihc Cireek /arasso, I dislurl), 

 from its mediciiial effects. Dandelion is from the I'rcnch dciit dc /Ion, 

 in allusion to the leaf marijin, and the secoml i.ailn name refers to ihe 

 use in medicine 



The Dantlclion is known by a \'ariety of vernacular names, such as 

 Bilterwort, Blowball, lilower, Canker, Cankerwori, Clock, Crovv-par- 

 snip, Irish Daisy, Dandelion, Dentelion, Dindle, Doon-head-clock, 

 l'"orlune-teller, C.owan, Monkshood, One o'clocks. Priest's Crown, 

 Stink Davie, Swine's Snout. It is calletl Priest's Crown and 

 Monkshead because the naked reccj)iacle alter the fruits are dis- 

 persed is like the shaven head oi a priest. As to the name Doon- 

 head-clock, Mactai^t^art sa\s: "Rustics, to know the lime ol the 

 d<i\', pull the plant and pufi away at its downy head, and the putts 

 it takes to blow the down from it is reckoned by them the time of 

 the day ". Blowball, Blower, Fortune-teller, are all connected with the 

 same choristic feature. 



If seen in dreams the superstitious believed it was a bad omen. 



It is called Peasant's Clock, the flower opening- early in the 



morning". 



Dandelion witli globe of down, 

 The schoolboys' clock in every town, 

 Which the truant puffs amain, 

 To conjure lost hours back again. 



The name Dent cle lion has been connected with the sun, of which 

 the lion is the symbol, the teeth in this way being" rays round a golden 

 head, the sun. 



An Irish charni was to give the patient nine leaves of Dandelion, 

 three leaves being eaten on three successive mornings. 



Warts have been supposed to have been cured by the juice of 

 the Dandelion in the Midlands. 



The leaves are used in medicine for several remedies. In spring 

 the leaves, blanched under a tile, are used as a salad, and resemble 

 Endive. The French eat the long, milky roots as a salad, raw; and 

 it is boiled in Germany as Salsify. The root dried and ground has 

 been used for coffee. Pigs and goats are fond of it. It was used as 

 a remedy for jaundice. 



Essential Specific Cm.\racters : — 



182. Taraxacum officiua/c, Weber. — Flowering stems scapes, leaves 

 radical, runcinate, smooth, lobes recurved, sinuate, toothed, flowerheads 

 large, yellow, outer florets brown beneath, outer scales of involucre re- 

 flexed, scape hollow, milky, pappus pilose, stalked, receptacle convex. 



