Little weeds have big place in history, literature, myth

Dandelions were known to the ancient Chinese, to the Vikings, and to the superstitious populace of medieval Europe. And for all that time, curious beliefs have grown up around them.

One is that if you rub a dandelion under your chin, and your chin reflects yellow, it means you like butter. And several have to do with blowing on dandelion puffballs. The yellow flowers give way to white fluffs of seed, or as novelist Vladimir Nabokov described the effect: "changed from suns into moons."

Touched by the merest breeze, the seeds scatter away. But somebody with a wish in mind could save nature the trouble. Dandelions promise even more than birthday candles when it comes to making a wish and blowing:

• If all the seeds blow off in one whoosh, it means your wish will come true.

• Or it means the one you love loves you.

• But if some of the seeds remain, the failed breath warns of a possibly false-hearted lover: Beware of being blown off.

• Or the number of seeds tells how many years you have left, and then -- poof!

Even more outcomes are cited as possible in various sources of folklore including dandeliondelight.com. But only one prospect is certain to come to pass from dandelion seeds: more dandelions. And so, a caution from Minnie Shelor, garden manager at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs:

"Think twice next time you decide to make a wish and blow that dandelion fluff into the wind!"

-- Ron Wolfe

HomeStyle on 07/23/2016

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