Taraxacum

The common name dandelion comes from the French dent-de-lion, meaning lion's tooth. Dandelions are thought to have evolved about thirty million years ago in Eurasia.

Folklore stories suggest you can tell how loved or unloved you are by blowing the seeds off a dandelion globe. It is said that if you can blow all the seeds off with one blow, then you are loved with a passionate love. If some seeds remain, then your lover has reserveations about the relationship. If a lot of the seeds still remain on the globe, then you are not loved at all, or very little.

In Victorian times they were cultivated with care and eaten by the wealthy in sandwiches and salads. Even today the leaves are used as cure-alls and the flowers made into wine.