I try to be philosophical about dandelions, or at least try to find the upside.
They are a phenomenally successful part of the food chain. And the plant equivalent to swarming army ants has a relationship with birds, their one saving grace in my book.
Clear Lake resident Harold Fish recently had a food-chain lesson.
“Under the apple tree were these luxurious dandelions, many of them with puffballs. As I was contemplating this, (a small bird, perhaps) a sparrow, came hopping along the ground up to one dandelion,” Fish said.
“He stepped on the stem, walked his way out to the end and ate all the seeds. Then he did the same to the next one, stepped on the stem, walked out to the end and ate the seeds. Is he the only bird in the world who knows how to eat dandelion seeds? Or did his granddaddy teach him?”
I don’t know the origin of various species’ affinity for dandelions, but birds do work hard at gathering the tiny seeds. Bird sustenance alone makes it almost worth it to leave some of my dandelions alone.
If you pick a puffball, I bet you’ll appreciate the delicate architecture and the tuft with each seed. These parachutes can carry the seeds for miles, wind willing.
Birds don’t have design appreciation but value the seeds. Eating dandelion seeds, however, is not a quick operation, and birds have no craving for the fuzzy sections.
It’s hard to see how those tiny seeds are worth the energy expended, but birds, such as American goldfinches, other finches and white-crowned sparrows, know best.
According to researchers, a bird will pull a seed from the puffball, move it around until the seed is in its mouth and bite off the parachute.
Humans also eat dandelion seeds, which were introduced from Europe. I found a recipe for dandelion seed biscuits with almonds on the Web from Prodigal Gardens. It’s your basic biscuit recipe with ½ cup almonds and 1½ cups dandelion seeds, “plucked out of the flower head.”
Plucked … 1½ cups of dandelion seeds …
Test questions: How many puffballs are needed for this recipe? How many seeds would you have to pick for 1½ cups? Who creates recipes requiring that amount of seed?
Answer: I have no idea.
While most of us have never intentionally ingested dandelion seeds, we can find dandelion greens in some markets. Whole Foods has them, and its website offers a recipe for dandelion greens with warm balsamic vinegar, calling for 2½ pounds of greens.
Leaves need to be young because as they age, they become bitter.
For maybe 1,000 years, herbalists from different countries used parts of the dandelion for medicinal purposes, such as a diuretic; today, many people still swear by them.
Swearing or not, the Food and Drug Administration is not impressed. The dandelion is a weed, end of discussion.
Since there has been no compelling scientific evidence, dandelion parts will not rise to the level of modern medicine any time soon.
Nonetheless, dandelion concoctions have been used to treat jaundice, urinary tract infections, upset stomach, warts, dairy allergies, toenail fungus and arthritis and to fend off mosquitoes.
Don’t assume that because this weed has been used for hundreds of years, there are no drawbacks. Nausea and vomiting can be discomforting.
Personally I’ll pass on dandelions. Well, maybe I’ll keep the dandelion wine recipe. It calls for 3 quarts of dandelion flowers. I’ll just have to remember to pick them before I mow them down.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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