Taraxacum Officinale

Dandelion

by William Boericke — Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica & Repertory

For gastric headaches, bilious attacks, with characteristically mapped tongue and jaundiced skin. Cancer of bladder. Flatulence. Hysterical tympanites .

Head

Sensation of great heat on top of head. Sterno-mastoid muscle very painful to touch.

Mouth

Mapped tongue. Tongue covered with a white film; feels raw; comes off in patches, leaving red, sensitive spots . Loss of appetite. Bitter taste and eructations. Salivation.

Abdomen

Liver enlarged and indurated. Sharp stitches in left side. Sensation of bubbles bursting in bowels. Tympanites. Evacuation difficult.

Extremities

Very restless limbs. Neuralgia of knee; better, pressure . Limbs painful to touch.

Fever

Chilliness after eating, worse drinking; finger tips cold. Bitter taste . Heat without thirst, in face, in toes . Sweat on falling asleep.

Skin

Profuse night-sweats .

Modalities

Worse , resting, lying down, sitting. Better , touch.

Relationship

Compare: Choline , a constituent of Taraxacum root, has given encouraging results in the treatment of cancer. Choline is closely related to Neurin , it is the "Cancronie" of Prof. Adamkiewicz (E. Schlegel). Bry; Hydrast; Nux. Tela aranea (nervous asthma and sleeplessness).

Dose

Tincture, to third potency. In cancer 1-2 drams fluid extract.

Taraxacum Officinale across the other classic books

Taraxacum Officinale appears in 11 of the 13 classic books on Similia. Each was written to do a different job — here is what each adds on this remedy, with the opening of its entry.

Allen HC — The keynotes that separate this remedy from its nearest neighbours.
“Dandelion. (Compositae.) For gastric and bilious attacks, especially gastric headaches. Mapped tongue (Lach., Mer., Nat. m.); covered with a white film with sensation of rawness. This film comes off in patches , leaving dark red, tender, very sensitive spots (Ran. s.). Jaundice with enlargment and induration of liver…”
Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Taraxacum Dens-leonis, Desf. (Leontodon Taraxacum, Linn.) Natural order , Compositæ. Common name , Dandelion; (G.) Löwenzahn. Preparation , Tincture of the whole plant just before the perfection of the flower. Authorities. ( 1 to 5 , from Hahnemann.) Talkativeness and incessant prattling, 4. Religious, pious mood…”
Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“DIRECTION of sensations, Diagonally SIDE, left to right”
Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“Liver. Stomach. Rest; sitting; standing. Walking. Touch. Bilious, sick feeling. Stitches. .................... Depression. Coated tongue, with raw patches; mapped. Sour taste or hawks sour mucus. White stools. Bilious diarrhœa. Jaundice. Restless limbs, with tearing pains. Chilly after eating. Cold fingertips. Burning…”
Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Leontodum taraxacum. Taraxacum Dens-leonis. N. O. Compositæ. Tincture of whole plant just before the perfection of the flower. Ague / Bilious attacks / Debility / Diabetes / Gall-stones / Headache, gastric / Jaundice / Liver, affections of / Neuralgia / Night-sweats / Rheumatism / Tongue, mapped / Typhoid fever The…”
Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Dandelion. Compositæ. Introduced and proved by Hahnemann, assisted by Franz, Gutmann, Kummer, Langhammer and Rasazemsky. CLINICAL AUTHORITIES. Ague , Bartl., Newmann, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 4, p. 990 ; Typhoid fever , Bœnninghausen, Hom. Cl., vol. 3, p. 54 ; Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 4, p. 790. Constant muttering to himself…”
Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“The limbs are movable, but it seems to him as if the moving power is obstructed. Painfulness of all the limbs by touch and a like condition when in an improper position. Sensation of great heat on top of head. Sterno-mastoid muscle very painful to the touch. Crampy pains in different parts of the body. Cramp in the…”
Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Irresoluteness. Inclined to talk, to laugh, and to be merry. Sensation as if the brain were expanded or constricted. The headache is felt only when standing (or walking). Aversion to light; stinging-burning in the eyes. Red, hot face. Pimples on the cheeks, wings of the now, and corners of the mouth. The upper lip is…”
Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: dandelion. The limbs are movable, but it seems to him as if the moving power was obstructed. Painfulness of all the limbs by touch and a like condition when in an improper position. Crampy pains in different parts of the body (Cupr., Mag-P., Sec.). Sensation of weakness through the whole body with a…”
Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Tongue coated white, which peels off in patches, leaving dark, red, tender, sensitive spots; mapped tongue.”

Taraxacum Officinale in Kent's Repertory

Kent's Repertory lists Taraxacum Officinale in 740 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in EXTREMITIES (149), GENERALITIES (108), HEAD (106), SKIN (41), MIND (40).

HEAD - PAIN, - pressing - Occiput - lying on back - down,after
MOUTH - DISCOLORATION - Tongue - white - patches
MOUTH - DISCOLORATION - Tongue - white - spots,clean
HEAD - PAIN, - pressing - lying,while
MOUTH - MAPPED Tongue
MOUTH - SENSITIVE - Tongue
PERSPIRATION - SLEEP - on beginning to
FEVER - SLEEP,heat comes on - after
EXTREMITIES - COLDNESS - Fingers
GENERALITIES - FOOD - fat,agg.
CHILL - EATING - after
GENERALITIES - SIDE,symptoms on one side - crosswise - left upper and right lower
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - stitching - Joints
GENERALITIES - PAIN - jerking - externally
GENERALITIES - WALKING - amel.
GENERALITIES - PAIN - stitching - muscles
GENERALITIES - MOTION - amel.
CHILL - CHILLINESS
PERSPIRATION - NIGHT
EXTREMITIES - HEAT - Hand

Search all 7 classical repertories

More remedies in this book

Previous remedy: Tann-ac Next remedy: Tarent-c

Tab Tanac Tarent Tart-ac Tax Tell Ter Teucr

Explore the full Similia platform

Access 13 classic materia medica books, 7 classical repertories, AI semantic search, and basic case management — free.

View Pricing