How to Recognize Edible Dandelion

Don gloves and grab your weeding tool and basket and go outside.

Search grassy areas for weeds that form a rosette. This means that all the leaves come from one central point. If you see a flower or seed head, the stem should be hollow.

Check the leaf shape. Dandelion leaves are long and tapered, they could be as long as 18 inches. Along each edge of a leaf there are deep jagged "teeth" shapes that give the dandelion its name. Think of what the teeth of a lion would look like and compare the leaves to that. Each jagged "tooth" will have a curve to it. If you look at the curve of each tooth, you will notice it pointing toward the center of the plant.

Examine the flower of the plant you think is a dandelion. The flower should be held on a solitary leafless stem. If the flower is yellow and resembles a flattened pom-pom in shape it is a dandelion. If the flower has gone to seed, the seeds will be held on the stem with a feathery projection extending from each one. The outer surface of the feathers will form a globe-like shape.

Pull the leaves up and gather them around the stalk with your gloved hand. Insert your weeding tool at the base of the plant. Direct the tool into the ground in a vertical position. Push the weeding tool as deeply into the ground as possible. Remove the weeding tool and insert it again, rotating into different positions around the plant base. Loosen the soil a bit with each tool insertion.

Apply upward pressure on the weeding tool when you have loosened soil all the way around the base. If the dandelion resists, move the tool to another loosened area and repeat the upward pressure. Continue this process until the dandelion pops up with its intact carrot-shaped tap root. Shake loosened dirt off of the root and place in your basket.

Check your plant's appearance against photos on the Internet or in books. If you have any doubt as to whether it is dandelion, do not eat it. Dandelion plants are most often confused with chicory, which has varied curvature of the leaf teeth and blue flowers. The flower stem of chicory has variously placed leaves. Assured that the plant is dandelion, clean and prepare the various plant parts as desired.