Everyone knows dandelions, known scientifically as Taraxacum officinale.
They colonize disturbed areas, are labelled as weeds, were imported to the United States as food source. Their name originates from the French dent-de-lion, meaning “lion’s teeth”. Their fruits – yes, those are fruits – are fun to blow out, though perhaps not ecologically the best activity: they’re regarded as noxious weeds in many areas.
And they’re old: fossils of them have been found dating back to glacial, interglacial times in Europe. All in all, they’re one of the most commonly recognized and common wildflowers in the temperate world. Still, coming from tropical Singapore, I couldn’t help picking this one up when we discovered a field of them in the Himalayas.
