Witnessed by: TCM · Western · Unani
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. Stemless rosette perennial with a stout milky taproot and hollow flower-scapes; native range: Eurasian in origin; now a cosmopolitan weed of lawns, pastures and waste ground worldwide. Globally recognized as pu gong ying (蒲公英) in Chinese, kasni sahrai / Tarakhshaqun in Arabic, and common dandelion, lion's tooth, piss-a-bed in English. The part used is root and leaf (whole plant). Deeply cut, back-pointing leaves in a flat rosette; bitter milky sap, a bright composite head that shuts to the familiar seed-clock.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
DANDELION
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Dandelion
- Scientific name
- Taraxacum officinale F.H.Wigg.
- Family
- Asteraceae (Compositae)
Form
- Part used
- root and leaf (whole plant)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter · sweet
- Western
- bitter (leaf more diuretic, root sweeter)
- Unani
- bitter
Temperature
TCM: cold
Western: cool
Unani: cold (& dry, 1st degree)
convergence: all {witness_count} traditions rank it cooling — a bitter that opens and drains rather than warms
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Stomach
- Western
- liver · kidneys · digestion · blood
- Unani
- liver · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears heat, resolves toxicity, reduces swellings and abscesses, drains damp-heat and promotes urination
- Western
- hepatic and cholagogue (root), reliable potassium-sparing diuretic (leaf), bitter digestive tonic, mild laxative, alterative
- Unani
- mufatteh sudad (deobstruent of liver and spleen), muqawwi-e-jigar, mudirr-e-baul (diuretic), cooling alterative
Cautions
Contraindications: bile-duct obstruction, gallstones without supervision, cold and loose digestion
Toxicity: very low; latex may cause contact dermatitis; large doses loosen the bowel
Interactions
- Western
- diuretics: additive fluid loss; may affect renal excretion of lithium · antidiabetic agents: mild additive glucose lowering
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