Dandelions
Did you know that the dandelions that carpet our verges and lawns are all females and they do not sexually reproduce, so they are all clones of their parents?
They have completely done away with males, and they don't seem to appeal to males either. I really love their intense yellow flowers that appear overnight on the lawn and along the verges of our Barbarossa area but my husband sees them as his failure to control the lawn and rips them out.
The common dandelion originated in Eurasia and has become naturalized throughout the world, probably transported in animal fodder.
Taraxacum officinale, the dandelion's scientific name is a hugely successful weed–it produces masses of wind-dispersed seeds as every kid knows from blowing the puffy seed head. All are exact clones of the parent plant, with no genetic shuffling taking place as it does in 
sexually reproducing plants . Seeds can remain viable in the soil for as many as nine years and a single plant can produce more than 5 000 seeds a year! They can tolerate most soils–even our Avery Avenue soils–as long as they are not buried too deeply.
sexually reproducing plants . Seeds can remain viable in the soil for as many as nine years and a single plant can produce more than 5 000 seeds a year! They can tolerate most soils–even our Avery Avenue soils–as long as they are not buried too deeply. The common name dandelion comes from the French ‘dent de lion’ (lion's tooth) as it is said the jagged edge to the leaves reminded them of a lions tooth. (I wonder how many lions were about when our early Eurasian ancestors named them?)
The leaves can be eaten cooked or raw and taste quite like mustard
greens. Usually the young leaves and unopened buds are eaten raw in salads, while older leaves are cooked. Try dandelion leaves with hard boiled eggs: the leaves are rich in vitamin A, C and iron and calcium.
Dandelion flowers can be used to make dandelion wine, for which there are many recipes on the Internet.
