Simple or Complicated

This morning while  walking my dogs, I noticed at the end of my street a yard full of dandelions that had gone to seed.  You know when they look like a perfect circle of white fluff.  You just want to blow on them and watch it fly away.  Of course I had to take pictures of them.  When I got home I mentioned to my son they were so simple and beautiful for weeds.  He said, quite the contrary…they are very complicated. 

click on picture of the dandelion to watch slide show

I know most of us look at these and just see a weed.  The truth, they are complicated.

Here are some interesting facts:

Dandelion seeds are carried away by the wind and travel like tiny parachutes. A strong wind can carry the parachutes miles away from the parent plant.  A dandelion is really many tiny flowers bunched together. After a dandelion blooms, each of its tiny flowers produces a seed. Each seed is attached to a stem with white fluffy threads.

Not only are dandelions good for your soil, they are good for your health. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a serving of uncooked dandelion leaves contains 280 percent of an adult’s daily requirement of beta carotene as well as more than half the requirement of vitamin C. Dandelions are also rich in vitamin A.

Dandelions are also used as herbal remedies. The white sap from the stem and root is used as a topical remedy for warts. The whole plant is used as a diuretic and liver stimulant.

The next time you look at a dandelion, think, complicated organism, not weed.

I’m sure there may be something you thought might be simple…think again….it’s complicated!

Don’t forget to watch the slide show!  Click on the dandelion!