Photo AlexCM Inaturalist.

It’s a world citizen. It’s perhaps the most widespread wildflower on the planet, found all over six continents and the Arctic, even on South Georgia Island, less than a thousand miles from Antarctica. In North with the Spring, Edwin Way Teale describes the wildflower thusly: “In one level valley dandelions extended away in tens of thousands of white globes. For more than a mile we ran through drifting silvery fluff.” If the ubiquitous dandelion makes you crazy, you may wish to quit reading now.

As you know from looking at your lawn, it thrives on lack of competition. The dandelion is tall enough to out-compete mowed grass and clover. It struggles in a meadow of taller grasses and sedges, fleabane, black-eyed Susans, and the like. Thus it is most successful being what Robert MacFarlane called in The Lost Words, “the bane of lawn perfectionists.” What an ecological niche we’ve created!

Originally from Eurasia, the dandelion was probably introduced to the Americas by the Puritans. It has been used for herbal medicines since the Roman Empire. By 1672 it was a permanent member of our floral community.

“Dent-de-lion”, or lion’s tooth, a description of the spiky foliage, gave the flower its name. Remember knowing that? Remember blowing the puffballs as a kid, making a wish, innocently spreading the seeds? The tiny parachute beneath which each seed swings is a marvel of nature’s engineering. Wind moving through the ‘chute’ creates a whirling vortex of air that boosts lift. According to Smithsonian Gardens, “dandelion seeds can travel as far as 500 miles”. Blowing in the wind indeed.

This relentless perennial plant lurks in your yard, with a tap root that can be 6”-18” deep. It is almost as happy in shade as sun. Seeds can germinate at once or wait up to five years in ideal conditions, ready to reproduce quickly while your attention is distracted by the joys of summer. And yet – it is also regularly celebrated. Why is that?