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Publication #HS591

Dandelion — Taraxacum officinale Weber1

James M. Stephens2

Almost everyone has encountered wild dandelion as a weed pest in lawns and gardens throughout Florida and the United States. There also are cultivated varieties of this troublesome weed that make excellent cooking greens. Dandelion is grown in gardens on an infrequent basis, and is produced on a rather large scale by a few commercial growers in Florida.

Dandelion. 

DESCRIPTION

Dandelion is a European native perennial plant whose low spreading, deeply notched leaves form a rosette pattern as they emerge from a weak central tap root. It closely resembles endive in form and in cultural requirements. The hollow flower stalks form a single compound flower of many golden colored florets. Like chicory, varieties differ in leaf shape, ranging from very curly leaved to broad leaved.

CULTURE

Dandelion is a cool season, hardy vegetable. Sow seeds in the fall, winter, or early spring. A usable product of edible leaves results in about 3 months. Space plants 12 inches apart in rows that are 24 inches wide.

USE

The tops are used both in salads and as a cooking green. The root is not used as a vegetable, but may have some medicinal value. Dandelion flowers are used in wine-making, according to reports.

Footnotes

1.

This document is HS591, one of a series of the Horticultural Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date May 1994. Reviewed March 2009. Visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

James M. Stephens, Professor, Horticultural Sciences Department, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean.