Taraxacum officinale
Made from the dandelion — the lion's-tooth weed of every lawn, a genuine diuretic and cholagogue herb of the old dispensaries, and the classical liver mapped-tongue remedy.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a liver mapped like a country: the tongue coated in patches — mapped, with islands of clear and coat — a bitter taste, chilliness creeping over after eating, flatulence, and a liver that aches with every dietary indiscretion. The mapped tongue, chill-after-food: that is Taraxacum.
The substance, in plain words
The dandelion is the common lawn weed whose root and leaf were official diuretic and cholagogue herbs of the old dispensaries — a genuine working remedy for dropsy and liver sluggishness. Its taraxacin and potassium-rich chemistry are real; the proving gave the mapped-tongue portrait.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Irritability and crossness. Cross, dissatisfied, especially with the family and the table.
- Depression. Low spirits with the digestive torpor; worse evenings.
- Anxiety about health. The books pair it with the worried liver patient.
The body
- The mapped tongue. The keynote: tongue coated yellow in patches, with red islands — the 'geographic' map of the old books.
- Chill after eating. A creeping chill and gooseflesh after meals — the quoted gastric keynote.
- Bitter taste and flatulence. Everything bitter; gas, fermentation, distension after eating.
- Liver pain. Aching and stitching of the right side, worse lying, better motion.
- Skin eruptions. Old books: nettle-rash and itching with the hepatic state.
- Worse rest and after eating. Sitting still after meals is the worst; motion and warmth help.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| rest after meals; rich food; damp cold weather. | motion; warmth; open air. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Liver and digestion, tongue and taste, skin (urticarial), general vitality.
Where the classical picture comes from
The dispensary herb's diuretic-cholagogue use gave the proving its frame; the mapped tongue and chill-after-food became the classical portrait of the dandelion — the weed that out-medicined many exotics.
The substance in real medicine Pharmacology
What this section is: the pharmacology and toxicology of the source substance. It is not clinical evidence that a homeopathic preparation of it treats any condition. What controlled trials do and do not show is set out on the Evidence page.
Dandelion root and leaf were genuine official medicines — potassium-rich diuretics and cholagogues of the pharmacopoeias, retired when modern diuretics and hepatology arrived. The plant remains a respected herbal diuretic and liver tonic in several traditions, its potassium chemistry authentically active.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Chelidonium majus | Liver, right side | Chelidonium shoots to the right scapula and is food-better; Taraxacum maps the tongue and chills after food. |
| Juglans cinerea | Liver torpor, occipital band | Juglans bands the occiput and itches internally; Taraxacum maps the tongue. |
| Hydrastis canadensis | Liver and membranes | Hydrastis is ropy and torpid; Taraxacum mapped and bitter. |
| Nux vomica | Bilious irritability | Nux is fiery and spasmodic; Taraxacum is bitter, mapped and chill-after-food. |