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Dandelion flower
Taraxacum officinale · Edible flower
40 pairings
The dandelion flower is the bright golden bloom of the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), a familiar lawn and meadow plant of the daisy family. Honeyed and gently bittersweet, the petals are eaten raw in salads and turned into country dandelion wine, fritters, jelly and syrup.
Picking a good onedrag
Wide open, honey-gold, just pickedShut grey-green, turning to fluff
Shop freshThe punnet or bunch as bought. Buy dandelion flowers as food, from a grower or shop that sells them to be eaten. The species is fine; the article is the question, and it is sharper here than for most flowers - dandelion is the named target of selective broadleaf lawn weedkiller, which is systemic and travels inside the plant, so a lawn bloom is the one most likely to have been sprayed on purpose. Verge plants take up traffic metals, and florist and garden-centre stock is treated with products never assessed for food. Strip the petals for fritters, syrup, jelly or country wine.Everyday best
Where it came fromA grower who sells it to eat, unsprayed
How open the head isOpen, the outer florets starting to lie back
The floretsColour full, a few straps limp at the edge
Green base and stalkBracts green, cut end drying, the latex gone gummy
Smell at the headQuiet and green, the honey barely there
What to look for, from wide open, honey-gold, just picked to shut grey-green, turning to fluff.