Known best in North America as a weed that pops up in freshly cut lawns, dandelion grows wild in most of the world and is cultivated as an herb in China, France, and Germany. Young leaves are picked in the spring for tonic salads. In the early summer, before the plant blooms, leaves are harvested for the manufacture of medicinal teas, and tinctures. The roots of two-year-old plants are dug in the fall, when they have their greatest concentration of the complex carbohydrate inulin, for use in tablets and tinctures. Read more about dandelion. From Prescription for Herbal Healing by Phyllis Balch, Copyright © January, 2002, Avery Books, a member of Penguin Putnam, Inc., used by permission.