LEAVES AND STEMS WE EAT 1 25 



taught us to eat what we cannot resist buying 

 because it is so pretty. Europeans use it as a pot 

 herb, and the gardeners have so far improved the 

 varieties that it is in market the year round. 

 There are self-blanching kinds, that head like 

 cabbages when partly grown. A broad-leaved kind 

 is called Escarolle. 



When the blossoms appear, they are blue and 

 closely resemble the ray-flowered chicory, a near 

 relative, in the Composite Family. 



DANDELION 



The teeth of a lion form a jagged line, just like 

 the toothed margin of the leaf of this familiar 

 dooryard plant, the dandelion. "Dent-de-lion" 

 is the French name. Can you read the meaning 

 into it? 



Dandelions grow wild and rampant over the 

 Temperate Zones of the northern and southern 

 hemispheres, and are always invading new terri- 

 tory. The acrid juice has a considerable reputa- 

 tion in home remedies concocted by old wives, 

 versed in herbs and simples. Dried roots of dan- 

 delion are among the druggist's stock, too. The 

 earliest shoots have a tonic effect on the sluggish 

 system of one who has kept indoors all winter. 



