DANDELION 



339 



FIG. 176. Dandelion 

 root. Transverse 

 section, a, bark b, 

 wood ; w, cambium 

 Magnified 4 diam. 

 (Berg.) 



The roots are collected from wild plants, washed, and, if necessary, 

 dried. Much of the drug is imported from Germany. 



Description. Dandelion root consists of a simple straight root, 



which, towards the upper part, passes imper- 

 ceptibly into an erect rhizome ; the latter 



sometimes remains simple, but often divides 



into several erect branches. It attains a length 



of 30 cm. or more, and a thickness varying 



from 15 to 25 mm. Whilst fresh it is yellowish 



brown externally, whitish and fleshy within. 



From the freshly cut surface, as indeed from 



all parts of 

 the plant, an 

 abundance of 

 a very bitter, 

 milky juice 

 exudes, which 



on careful examination may be 

 observed to rise from concentric 

 rings of tissue. In the centre of 

 the root is a small yellow wood. 



The dried root has a dark brown 

 colour and is much shrivelled and 

 wrinkled longitudinally ; it tapers 

 but little below, and often divides in 

 the upper part (rhizome) into several 

 erect branches, the rhizome being 

 distinguishable from the root only 

 by its slightly varying structure. 

 These branches (or the rhizome 

 itself) are crowned with the short 

 remains of the leaves which bear 

 brownish hairs near the point of 

 insertion. 



It breaks when dry with a short 

 fracture, the section exhibiting a 

 very small, yellow, porous, central 

 wood surrounded by an abnormally 

 thick, whitish bark in which numerous 

 brownish concentric rings (of latici- 

 ferous tissue) are visible. The root, 

 which is rather hygroscopic, becomes 

 tough when slightly moist. It has 



no odour, but a bitter taste, which, however, is often not nearly so 



pronounced as it is in the milky juice that exudes from the fresh root. 



FIG. 177. Anastomosing latici- 

 ferous vessels of Dandelion 

 root. Magnified 140 diam. 

 (Vogl.) 



