The word “dandelion” come from the French dente de lion.
The German Loewenzahn seems to bear this out.
Whats the relationship between this flower and a lion’s tooth?
The individual petals are long, thin and pointed, resembling a lion’s canine teeth.
According to my etymology reference, it’s from the leaves being toothed “like a lion”, not the petal.
Toothed leaves from here too.
“dent de lion” to be exact.
Funnily enough the French word for dandelion is “piss en lit”, which has a parallel in the English dialect word “pissabed”.
Indeed. I recall children in my neighbourhood claiming that picking dandelions would cause you to wet your bed (actually an exaggeration), and you’ll find extract from it being prescribed as a herbal diuretic.
The leaves can be eaten in salads.