DANDELION 
263 
India for over 3000 years and was known 
to the Greeks and Romans. According to 
De Candolle it was one of the fruits of 
Egypt regretted by the Israelites in the 
desert. 
CYPRIAN BEES.— See Italians. 
D 
DANDELION (Taraxicum officinale 
Weber.)—Other English names are lion’s 
tooth, blowball, yellow gowan, and priest’s 
crown. It is widely distributed over Europe, 
Asia, North America, the Arctic regions, 
and in many other parts of the civilized 
world. At Medina, as is shown in the 
photograph, and in many other localities 
the flowers are in some years so abundant 
that the fields and lawns are an almost 
unbroken sheet of golden yellow. The 
effect is most cheerful and pleasing, and in 
its season there is no other wild flower that 
can vie with the dandelion for ornamental 
A dandelion lover. 
purposes on a large scale. Coming as it 
does in early spring, preceding fruit bloom, 
it is a most valuable plant for bees. Some 
seasons it furnishes not a little honey, and 
besides it affords a large amount of pollen 
at a time when bees require a rich, nitro¬ 
genous food for brood-rearing. 
The dandelion belongs to the Compositae, 
and is related to the hawkweed and chicory. 
The head or capitulum consists of from 
100 to 200 florets. The corolla of each 
floret is strap-shaped, but at base unites 
to form a short tube which holds the nec¬ 
tar. At night and in damp weather the 
head closes so that there is little visible 
except a protecting whorl of green bracts. 
The pollen and nectar are thus completely 
sheltered from dew and rain. In fair 
weather the hour of opening in the morn¬ 
ing varies from 6 to 8 or 9 o’clock, and the 
time of closing from 2 until sunset, accord¬ 
ing to the month and latitude. The flow¬ 
ers open much later in September than in 
midsummer, and in northern regions than 
in the United States. The dandelion often 
blooms a second time in the fall, but much 
less freely than in spring. 
As the nectar and pollen are readily 
accessible a great variety of insects are 
attracted, and more than 100 different 
species of bees and flies have been ob¬ 
served seeking the flower food of this spe¬ 
cies. The supply of nectar some seasons 
is abundant. The pollen is plentiful and a 
special source of attraction. The grains 
are large, many-sided, and spinous, and so 
firmly do they hold together that bees can 
carry large packets of them. 
In many widely separated localities a 
surplus of dandelion honey is not infre¬ 
quently obtained, and occasionally it is 
placed on the market. A beekeeper in 
central Illinois reports that about 10 
pounds of dandelion honey per colony was 
one season stored in the supers. In Colo¬ 
rado it is common for the hives to be filled 
with dandelion honey, and a few beekeep¬ 
ers have offered the extracted honey for 
sale. Finished sections can also be pro¬ 
duced. But most of the dandelion honey 
gathered is consumed in the hives before 
alfalfa begins to blossom. In many loca¬ 
tions it is more highly prized than fruit 
bloom. In Vermont, hive after hive is 
filled with dandelion honey; and, with the 
exception of the clovers, it ranks with the 
