- Common Name: Dandelion
- Family: Compositae (Asteraceae)
- Source: Vegetable – prepared from the fresh plant of Taraxacum officinale
- Keynote: Mapped tongue with bitter taste and hepatic derangement
Sphere of Action
- Acts primarily on the liver, digestive system, and urinary tract
- Especially useful in hepatic affections, gastric disorders, and mapped tongue conditions
Key Clinical Indications
- Liver disorders – sluggish liver, hepatic congestion
- Mapped tongue – white patches alternating with clean areas
- Indigestion with bitterness in the mouth
- Bitter taste in mouth with coated tongue
- Headache from liver derangement
- Bilious conditions with jaundice
- Flatulent dyspepsia
Characteristic Symptoms
Tongue
- Mapped tongue: White-coated spots alternate with clean red patches
- Tongue sensitive, constantly changes color and shape of patches
- Bitter taste in mouth
- Often with increased salivation
Gastric Symptoms
- Gastric headache from hepatic disorder
- Loss of appetite with bitterness in the mouth
- Nausea, retching, bitter belching
- Flatulence and fullness in abdomen
- Bitter, offensive stool with pain in liver region
Liver
- Pain and fullness in right hypochondrium
- Hepatic torpor, enlarged liver, jaundice
- Gallbladder dysfunction, sluggish bile secretion
Urinary
- Increased flow of pale urine
- Urine copious, with pain in bladder or liver region
Mind
- Irritable, depressed, dull
- Unable to concentrate due to headache or biliousness
Modalities
|
Worse From |
Better From |
|
Lying on right side |
Passing stool or flatus |
|
After eating rich food |
Gentle movement |
|
Mental exertion |
Open air |
Keynotes
- Mapped tongue with alternating white patches and red denuded areas
- Bitter taste, liver dullness, and bilious dyspepsia
- Gastric headache and flatulence due to liver disturbance
- Tongue appearance constantly changing
- Liver and gallbladder dysfunction with digestive issues
Potency & Dosage
- Used in mother tincture (Q) and low potencies (3x, 6x)
- Mother tincture useful in sluggish liver and gastric conditions: 5–10 drops in water, 2–3 times daily
- Higher potencies (30C) used for mapped tongue and functional disturbances
Relationship
with Other Remedies
|
Compare With |
Complementary Remedies |
|
Chelidonium – liver & gallbladder remedy with right shoulder pain |
Nux Vomica – gastric and hepatic complaints in sedentary persons |
|
Lycopodium – liver complaints with flatulence |
Carduus Marianus – liver cirrhosis, portal
congestion |
Clinical
Conditions
- Mapped tongue
- Dyspepsia
- Jaundice
- Hepatic congestion
- Gallbladder dysfunction
- Flatulence
- Gastric headache
- Bilious vomiting
One-Line Summary
Taraxacum is a liver and gastric remedy notable for its characteristic mapped tongue and bitter taste in the mouth with sluggish digestion.
Tags
MATERIA MEDICA