Fun Fact Friday! Pesky weed or valuable plant? How much do you really know about dandelions? The teeth-like leaves gave dandelions their common name, "dent-de-lion", French for "lion's tooth". The entire plant (leaves, stem, roots, and flower) is edible and dandelion greens contain vitamins A, C, E, and K, as well as calcium, potassium, iron, and manganese. They can be eaten fresh in salads, steamed, blanched, or sautéed. The flowers can be used to make nutritious tea and flavorful wine. The dried, roasted roots can be ground up and brewed into a caffeine-free coffee substitute. Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine have used dandelions for at least a thousand years. Bees and other pollinators rely on early-blooming dandelions as a nectar source at a time when little else is in bloom. Dandelions are actually perennials. Their long taproots store food over the winter, providing the energy the plants need to sprout in early spring. These roots also “mine” nutrients deep in t...