Dandelion

OVERVIEW

What This Record Covers

Dandelion, called Pu Gong Ying, is the dried whole herb of Taraxacum mongolicum and accepted Taraxacum sources, a familiar perennial of the daisy family (Asteraceae) with a basal leaf rosette, a hollow flower stem, and a yellow flower head. The medicinal material is the whole above-ground plant, harvested and dried, though root-only and leaf-only products are also sold. In trade it appears as cut dried herb, whole plants, teas, extracts, and roasted root beverages. Because the same plant is an ordinary food and garden weed, the species, harvest stage, and whether the product is root, leaf, or whole herb should be stated on the label.

English name

Dandelion

Latin name

Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz.

Traditional category

Heat Clearing

Nature

Cold

Flavor description

Bitter, Sweet

Record identifier

pugongying

IDENTIFICATION

Identification and Image Notes

Dandelion has a basal leaf rosette, a hollow flower stem, and a yellow flower head, and root, leaf, and whole-herb products may come from different species or harvest stages. The familiar garden plant should not be assumed to match a medicinal product, and the label should state the part and source.

Images are for orientation only, not definitive species authentication; confirm species, part, source, and labeling with a qualified professional or authoritative monograph.

TRADITIONAL CONTEXT

Traditional Use in Context

Traditional records discuss Dandelion for heat and swelling, breast-related historical language, urinary and skin contexts, and gentle bitter-cool clearing, and it appears in formulas aimed at swollen breast conditions, urinary discomfort, and skin eruptions, where the whole herb is decocted with other cooling materials. Classical texts describe it for heat-related swelling and for damp-heat in the urinary tract, always within a pattern-based framework. The breast and swelling vocabulary is historical and does not establish the cause of a breast lump or infection, and any new breast mass, persistent swelling, or fever requires medical assessment rather than a traditional label.

PROCESSING CONTEXT

Raw Material, Processing, and Product Form

The whole plant may be washed, cut, and dried, while roots and leaves are also sold as food or tea, and extracts and roasted beverages are separate forms. Each form has its own concentration and added-ingredient record.

The same name can cover a raw material, decoction piece, powder, extract, or finished product, so record the labeled form rather than assuming it; see the safety review for the questions to ask.

COMPARISON

How This Entry Differs

Compare Dandelion with Honeysuckle Flower for the whole-herb versus bud identity, and with Capillary Wormwood for the damp-heat and liver-oriented end of the vocabulary. Dandelion is distinguished by its food-adjacent familiarity, which can make its allergy and interaction questions easy to overlook. The same plant also shows that a familiar garden weed can be a legitimate materia medica entry with its own identity record.

Use the related-entry links below to compare identity, part, processing, and safety boundaries — similar categories do not make materials interchangeable.

STUDY METHOD

New to these entries?

Read the four-step method in How to Read a Herb Entry before comparing materials.