Taraxacum officinale 1:1 extract: dandelion in liquid form
Few plants are as familiar as the dandelion and as rarely looked at closely. It belongs to the daisy family, alongside sunflower and chamomile, and is native to Eurasia. A mostly unbranched taproot sends up a rosette of leaves straight from the ground, deeply cut into lobes whose teeth point backwards. That shape gave the plant its name: the French dent de lion, lion's tooth, turned into dandelion in English. The flower stalk is hollow, carries no leaves, usually stands somewhere between five and forty centimetres tall and ends in a single yellow head made up entirely of ray florets, with no disc florets in the middle. Snap a leaf or a stem and white latex seeps out.
The head opens during the day and closes at night, after which it turns into the clock of seeds everyone has blown apart, each seed riding a parachute of fine hairs. Curiously, many dandelions set seed without fertilisation, so the offspring are genetically identical to the parent. The species name officinale points to the officina, the working room of the apothecary, where the herb was processed for centuries. This extract follows that thread at a 1:1 ratio: roughly one gram of plant material per millilitre, in a 10 ml bottle. A stronger extract such as 2.5:1 packs more than twice as much into that same millilitre, so this ratio stays close to the plant itself.
Dosing and use
Shake the bottle briefly and measure a few drops into a glass of water, tea or fruit juice, or take them under the tongue. Dandelion tastes decidedly bitter, so start with less than you planned; another drop is always an option. To soften that bitterness, stir the extract into something sweet.
Storage and precautions
Keep the bottle cool, dry and dark with the cap closed properly, and out of reach of young children. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or on medication, talk to your doctor first. Avalon Magic Plants carries dozens of other 1:1 extracts in the same category, among them chamomile, peppermint, nettle, marigold and artichoke. Every order leaves our warehouse discreetly packed.
