Dandelion
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Dandelion. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a common perennial herb of the composite family. From the toothed appearance of the leaves, the French gave it the name dent de lion, whence our name. It appears to grow wild over Asia and Europe. It came to this country with garden seeds, yet seems to be a native of the Rocky Mountains . Children make garlands of its blossoms; the wind makes playthings of its seed; the housewife uses its leaves for greens; the farmer execrates it in his meadows; people who move into a new country long for its face; and the poet--each person looking at the dandelion in his own way--says: Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way, Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold, First pledge of blithesome May, Which children pluck, and, full of pride uphold, High hearted buccaneers, o'erjoyed that they An Eldorado in the grass have found, Which not the rich earth's ample round May match in wealth, thou art more dear to me Than all the prouder summer-blooms may be. --Lowell, To the Dandelion.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the common and wellknown plant, Taraxacum Dens Leonis or officinale, belonging to the natural order Composite. It yields a milky juice, which in the form of extract is used medicinally as a diuretic and alterative. It contains a bitter crystalline principle called taraxacine. Its root has been used to adulterate coffee in a similar way to chicory. It has a naked, hollow stalk, with a single bright yellow flower. The blanched leaves are used as a winter salad, and the roots are eaten as such by the French. The seed is furnished with a fine white pappus, by means of which it is carried far and wide by the wind. The leaves are lanceolate and sinuous, rising from a tap-root in the form of a rosette.