Dandelion

Dandy Lion by borogove13 on DeviantArt

No, no, no, no! not Dandy Lion, dandelion, the yellow flower, like this -

 

But it does sound the same. The name comes from the french 'dent de lion'  after the shape of the leaves which are supposed to look like lion's teeth. The entire plant is edible (if that is what you want!) and has been used in herbal medicine. It grows everywhere, has cheery yellow flowers and a wonderful seed head which we knew as a dandelion clock when we were kids. You blew the seeds off and the number of blows it took to blow them all off told you the time. It didn't work but it was a good excuse for why we were late home :).

My mother told me it made you wee but never told me how. Does looking at it make you wee? sniffing it? She never said any more. It turns out that it does make you wee, it is a diuretic. The only other bit of folklore I got from my mother was that poppies give you a headache. Again, no explanation. She probably told me that to stop me experimenting and discovering opium!