Is there a plant that is more beautiful, general and healing than our common dandelion? So, no, I'd say. And yet, where is the appreciation for this miracle plant? Does something or someone have to be rare before we appreciate it or him?

That everyone knows the dandelion, we notice from the many names that the plant has received over the centuries and in different regions. Yet a list: Dandelion, Pisflower, Pork flower, Milkflower, Rabbit leaf, Ganzetong, Luusflower, Chainflower, Lion's tooth and not to mention Molsla. Lots of animals in the name.

Beestenames
Logically, you would think that all these animal names have arisen because horses, pigs and rabbits like to eat the plant. That is a partially correct explanation, but not entirely. Sometimes animal names were given to plants, rather to express aversion, for example because the plant was not appreciated because of its bitter taste or because of the unwanted growth in the lawn. Some etymologists assume that dandelion in this sense is also a swear name. Although it is strange that such a noble animal was considered negative. However, the word horse, just like dog and of course pig are used in the past and also today as negative or pejorative and are now sometimes used as a swear word. We often want to reinforce this by adding a dirtier word such as dog cock and horse-head.

Rabbit food?
So you see that a name like dandelion can be declared both negative and positive. As food, on the other hand, it also has negative and positive qualities. It is bitter, but bleached, on the contrary, tasty. Hence also the name mole lettuce, because the leaves under the molehills bleached were less bitter and used as lettuce. Do we owe the invention of chicory to that?
Also for rabbits it has always been the food par excellence. When I harvest some green plants in nature on my bike, rather to make a medicinal tincture out of it, the walkers passing me still think I'm picking rabbit food. Yeah, I'm even a little offended as a decent herbalist. Rabbit breeder! What are they thinking?

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Dandelion