Friday, October 5, 2012

Stamp of the day: dandelions

Dandelions (maskros in Swedish, Taraxacum in Latin) are amazing.  I think they can flower nearly year round here in New Jersey, and they are beautiful as they flower, but invoking the wrath of many turfgrass pedantics at the same time.  I think the word dandelion and Taraxacum comes from 'lion's teeth', which the leaves are supposed to remind us of.. There aren't that many us that have actually seen true lion's teeth up close.  The Swedish common name is worse, it means 'worm rose' and how knows where that connotation comes from.  It is a really beautiful plant, even if a weed :)

No comments: