Dandelions: Flowers, Weeds, or Both?

Someone asked me if Dandelions were a flower and up until now I always thought they were a weed. However, I decided to go look it up on Wikipedia and Wikipedia says that Dandelions are a flowering ray flower in the Asteraceae family (a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants), which includes the aster, daisy, and sunflower. Then again, I also read that some Asteraceae are economically important in the sense that they are considered noxious weeds (unwanted plants), like Dandelions for example.

Dandelions: Flowers, Weeds, or Both?
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is a common meadow herb of the Asteraceae or sunflower family. There are about 100 species of dandelion, and all are beneficial. This sun-loving beauty is a native of Greece, naturalized in temperate regions throughout the world, and familiar to nearly everyone. The perennial dandelion grows freely wherever it can find a bit of earth and a place in the sun. Dandelion’s nutritive and medicinal qualities have been known for centuries.
Reply:Dandelions are a bit of both.
Reply:very interestion
Reply:Dandelions are considered a weed because they don't have any manners, they are invasive and don't stay away from other important plantings. Some folks consider dandelions a food source in the spring (eating the tender new leaves like spinach).I guess it depends on whether your hungry, laid back about lawn care(meaning that's the only flowers you intend to see in your lawn) or an avid Gardner trying to keep the pesky things out of your landscape!
Reply:Im just going to go against the grain here...





I consider a Dandelion an herb... you can use every part of the plant to some sort of an advantage... you can dry the roots and ground them up for a coffee substitue... the milky white sap apparently can help get rid of warts... and the leaves are edible and full of vitamins and minerals...
Reply:I love dandelions. The young greens can be eaten and have alot of nutrients. The flowers are also edible but I dont know how good they taste but my Bearded Dragons %26amp; Uromastyx lizards love them! Nice free source of food for them. (Only pick them in areas that have not been treated with chemicals)
Reply:Weeds...obnoxious weeds!!!
Reply:they are absolutely a weed.
Reply:Both.
Reply:A weed is an unwanted plant. If you want dandelions, they're flowers. If not, weeds.

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