414 



MEDICAL BOTANY. 



T. dens leonis, Desfoutaines. — Leaves unequally and acutely runcinate ; the lobes 

 toothed anteriorly ; scales of involucre not corniculate, exterior reflexed ; achenia muri- 

 cate at top. 



Leontodon taraxacum, Linn., Sp. PI. 1122; Woodville, i. 39; Stephenson 

 and Churchill, i. 5 ; Taraxacum dens leonis, Torrey and 'Gray, Fl. ii. 494 ; 

 Haller, Hist. i. 23. 



Common Names. — Dandelion; Puff ball, &c. 



Foreign Names. — Dent de lion, Fr. ; Tarassaco, It. ; Lowenzahn wur- 

 zel, Ger. 



Description. — Root fusiform, white and fleshy within, covered with a brown epidermis. 

 Leaves radical, numerous, spreading-, smooth, of a bright-green colour, deeply sinuated 



or runcinate. Scape 

 Fig. 186. erect, round, smooth, 



brittle, fistulous, bear- 

 ing a single head of 

 flowers of a golden 

 yellow colour, which 

 expand in fine weather 

 and in the morning 1 

 only, and close in the 

 evening'. The involu- 

 cre is imbricated ob- 

 long, and double ; the 

 exterior scales being 1 

 small, appressed, 



spreading and reflex- 

 ed ; the inner are in a 

 single series, larger 

 and erect. The florets 

 are numerous, equal, 

 ligulate, truncated, 

 five-toothed. The stamens have capillary filaments with conjoined anthers. The ovary 

 is obovate, crowned with a slender cylindrical style, with two revolute stigmas. The re- 

 ceptacle is convex, naked and punctate. The achenia are solitary, oblong, and supporting 

 a simple radiated pappus on a long pedicel. 



The Dandelion is a native of Europe, and is naturalized in almost every 

 part of the United States. It flowers from the commencement of the spring 

 to late in the autumn. There are several species admitted by botanical 

 writers, which appear to be merely varieties of this one, and which possess 

 the same physical characters. The part used in medicine is the root; this, in 

 the fresh state, is fusiform, somewhat branched, fleshy and abounding in a 

 milky juice. Externally it is brownish or brownish-yellow, internally white. 

 It is destitute of any marked odour, but has a bitter taste. On drying, it loses 

 more than half its weight, and yields on pressure in the fresh state about the 

 same proportion of juice. For medical purposes it should be gathered in the 

 summer and early in the autumn. On analysis, it has been found to contain 

 Gum, Gluten, Albumen, an Odorous principle, Extractive, Caoutchouc, a pecu- 

 liar Bitter crystallizable principle, some salts, &c. It is not certain that it 

 was known to the ancients, though as it is a native of Greece and Italy it 

 probably was so. The Arabian physicians were acquainted with it, and it 

 was much used in the middle ages and held in high estimation. 



Medical Properties. — The Dandelion is aperient, diuretic, and resolvent, 

 and as just stated, was at one time much used, and thought to be endowed 

 with very powerful properties. Park, an old English writer, says " Whoso is 

 macilent, drawing towards a consumption, or ready to fall into a cachexy, by 

 the use hereof for some time together, shall find a wonderful help." Almost all 



T. dens leonis. 



