The Dandelion although not occurring in the Southern Hemisphere, is at home in all parts of the north temperate zone, in pastures, medows and waste ground. It is most conspicuous in the early months of the summer but can occur at any time in the year.
The leaves are shiny and without hair, the margins of each leaf cut into great jagged teeth, and these teeth cut here and there into lesser teeth. It is this somewhat fanciful resemblance to the canine teeth of a lion that gives this plant its name Dandelion, a corruption of the french Dent de Lion.
The first mention of Dandelion as a medicine is in the works of Arabian physicians of the tenth and eleventh centuries who speak of it as a sort of wild endive called Taraxacon. We find allusion to it in the Welsh medicines of the thirteenth century.
Dandelion roots have long been used on the continent, and the plant is cultivated in India as a remedy for liver complaints.