Dandelion Greens

[sephira]

I've noticed that most literature and people cite that dandelion greens are good for bunnies. My question isdoes theterm'greens' mean just the leaves orALL the green parts of the plant?

Also, I seem to have several types of dandelions in my yard. (This is probably gonna be best answered by our resident botanist!) Some are 'regular'--which are small, produce a few flowers and grow in circular type clusters or rosettes. Some are different--where they grow very tall and wispy, but they have more flowers and have a whitish coating on the stems. The flowers look the same and they both make the same 'wishes' (the seeds that float away when you blow them). Are the 'different' types ok for buns or just the 'regular' types?

Thanks everyone!!!

 

[Maureen Las]

I don't know the differences in the types so I cannot answer this , however, I too have noticed plants that are similar to dandelions but do not have the jagged edges in the leaves. I never pick them because Im not sure if they are even a dandelion but only give the ones that I'm sure of.

I'm awaiting an answer also

 

[naturestee]

The tall, wispy ones are not actually dandelions but something else. Since I'm half a continent away you probably have different species than me as there are a bunch of similar-looking native plants. I wouldn't feed them, just to be safe. There is a huge amount of variety in the aster family. There are many food plants, but also many used as herbal medicines that may have strong effects, not to mention those that aren't used at all to our knowledge.

Here's the Wikipedia article for Taraxacum, the genus containing our common dandelion Taraxacum officinale:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandelion

Be sure to note the section on "false dandelions."

I thought this was hilarious- there's a Wikipedia entry for "darned yellow composites" because it's so difficult to differentiate between species and there are so many of them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/darned_yellow_composite

Oh, and I feed dandelion flowers on a limited basis. Too much seems to cause issues for my protein-sensitive bun. The leaves are a great veggie that can be fed on a regular basis and it's a favorite with my buns.

Edit: to actually see the second link, change the word to it's more vulgar form which our forum changes automatically to "darn."

 

[sephira]

angieluv: that's the same kind that I have in my yard!!



naturestee: thank you very much for the info!!!!!! I knew it would be a hard topic for you to resist!! LOL!

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I guess I just have the normal ones here lol.
The kind in the first picture

I give my buns the whole thing, the yellow flower part too. They love them.

Emily