HERB - queen anne's lace and dandelion

[Gaylin Walli]

John Day said:
>Thank you for your interesting and informative answer.  I will be
>very sure to hold off cooking with the stuff until I can run it past a
>botanist.

:) You're very welcome. I hate sounding like an alarmist. I'm just
naturally pararnoid. I did discover one interesting tidbit on the
uses of Queen Anne's Lace that I'd like to see if anyone can
confirm or explain. A website at

http://www.brandflowers.com/brand/163-0517.htm

sez that the plant is called "Ammi majus." Looks like Wild carrot
to me, but here's the thing that was most interesting there. They
say "The root of this flower was chewed by North African caravaners
to protect themselves from the sun, because it stimulates pigment
production." Did it get reclassified at some point resulting in
the different botanical name? And does anyone have any confirmation
of the use in North Africa?

>I am however still curious about other use's for the parts of a
>dandylion which is one of the very few plants I can identify.

In addition to the wealth of information provided by Melandra of the
Woods, I'd like to add this info. During the Middle Ages, the plant
was offten called Dens leonis. I can't find any mention of the plant
as a medicine before the 10th century or so and those were mostly in
Arabic writings. Maude Grieve's herbal somewhat confirms this, but
perhaps some of you can give me better info. Now, in addition to
the uses listed in Lady Melandra's notes, the juice of the plant
stalk was commonly used to treat warts by applying it directly to
the affected area.

>Thank you most kindly Lady Jasmine De Cordoba,
>Your humble servant John Day

To you and all others here, I am always at your serice as well.

Jasmine de Cordoba, Midrealm (Metro-Detroit)
jasmine at infoengine.com or g.walli at infoengine.com

"Si enim alicui placet mea devotio, gaudebo; si autem
nulli placet, memet ipsam tamen juvat quod feci."
-- Hroswith of Gandersheim
============================================================================
Go to http://www.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.