Vol. 1 No. 1 March 1978 (the first issue of Homoeopathica)
Dandelion - the Wonder Weed
SOURCE: Taraxacum Officionale, T. Densleonis, Leontodon T., N.O. Compositae, Dandelion, Priest’s Crown, Swines Snout. Tincture of the whole plant just before the perfection of flowers.
MENTALITIES: Indecision, irresolution, distaste for work. Talkative, inclined to laugh.
MODALITIES: BETTER: Touch, in open air, motion, by drinking.
WORSE: Rest, sitting, lying down, fatty food, at night, 8pm.
GENERALITIES: Weakness with need to lie down, but most symptoms intensify with sitting and are dissipated by walking.
AFFINITIES: Liver, stomach, kidneys.
SIDES: Left upper side, right lower side.
PECULIARS: As if brain constricted, as if teeth on edge, as if larynx compressed, as if bubbles forming and bursting in abdomen, gurgling right scapula.
RELATIONS: COMPATIBLE: Ars., Asaf., Bell., Chin., Lyc., Rhus., Staph., Sulph.
COMPARE: Ars.,(night sweats.) Bry., Chel., Hydr., Nux., (gastric & bilious upsets.) Rhus.
(Restlessness, tearing pains in limbs.)
INIMICALS: none recorded.
ANTIDOTE: Camph.
DURATION: 14 to 21 days.
DOSAGE: Hahnemann used one drop MT tincture. 6th and 30th.
The name Taraxacum is derived from the Greek taraxos (disorder) and akos (remedy) although another derivation is suggested, taraxo (I have caused) achos (pain). Dandelion is a corruption of the french, Dent de Lion or Lion’s teeth, from the shape of the leaves. Used as a salad plant, the young leaves are agreeably bitter-sweet. The root is dried, slightly roasted and powdered to form Dandelion Coffee, reputed to be indistinguishable from real coffee when carefully prepared. The main chemical constituents are Taraxacin (a bitter, soluble , crystalline substance) and Inulin (An uncrystalline sugar which replaces starch in the Compositae group).
Taraxacum is used herbally as a diuretic, tonic and mild aperient. It produces a general stimulation of the whole system, with an affinity for the urinary organs. Medicinally it is non-toxic and used chiefly for congested liver and kidney conditions; especially for stones and gravel. In folklore, the juice or latex , freshly expelled in the late spring or summer is said to remove warts.
Linnaeus used the Dandelion in his floral clock as it closed between 8-9 pm, The remedy Taraxacum has hands and nose cold at 8pm., a strong guiding symptom being icy cold fingertips. There are four other strong indications for TRX, the best being a painless but strong pressure to urinate with profuse emission. The tongue is the characteristic “mapped tongue” with disordered digestion giving a white coating where areas exfoliate to leave sensitive dark red patches. TRX has profuse, even violent night sweats usually before midnight, just when going to sleep. There is chilliness and the perspiration is very debilitating , causing biting on the skin. TRX has tearing pains in the limbs with restlessness and an extreme tenderness to touch when the limbs are in an unusual position.
Cooper reports the case of an elderly soldier suffering from gall stones. He was advised to take a daily infusion of Dandelion and the problem gradually cleared up. Once the symptoms had gone, the patient was free from the disorder for the next twenty years. Clarke records that TRX has cured jaundice with enlarged, indurated liver.
Taraxacum, because of its non-toxicity is not widely indicated as a homoeopathic remedy. A. C. Gordon Ross (”Arnica: The Amazing Healer.” Thorsons) reports limited success with TRX and would like to see the remedy proved again because of its reputation in herbal medicine.