Dandelions are one of the first signs of spring. Imagine my surprise to find a dandelion happily growing, flowering, and even going to seed on 7 January! Signs of spring in January? This is a new experience indeed.
Dandelions are edible, though I think I will stick with lettuce and spinach. They can be eaten raw (best picked when very young) or boiled like other types of greens. If dandelions are to be consumed, it's advisable to harvest them from yards that have not been sprayed or subjected to weedkiller.
The name, of course, is from French: dent de lion (tooth of the lion) though I can't imagine that anyone ever got close enough to a lion to check the resemblance. Though the French derivation seems fated to endure in our language, I am fond of the older English term pissabeds. That's one of those words that looks impolite but actually is not. The term has not been used for some time now--except in classes on the English language--so I am waiting sometime, somewhere to hear a gardener actually curse the ubiquitous weed with this old term.
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