On 2014-10-01 4:42 PM, Helpful person wrote:
> On Wednesday, October 1, 2014 3:13:42 PM UTC-4, Dave Smith wrote:
>
> The dandelion was introduced to North America by early settlers. It spread.... like a weed.
>
> Not true, this is one of those erroneous myths. The dandelion was known many years
> before the white man arrived. It's not surprising when you think about the method of
> dispersion.


During the 17th century, dandelions were heavily used as food and
medicine. Early colonists who came to the new settlements of the
American colonies brought many items from their homeland that they
thought they would need in this new land. One of those items was the
dandelion.. It was from this very early introduction in American
history that dandelions began their spread across uncharted territory.
It was the common people looking for a new life who brought this plant
with the simple need for something familiar in a strange new place.
Many Native American peoples also developed their own uses of the
dandelion after it naturalized. Since their introductionin to North
America, dandelions have colonized the rest of the world and are just as
abundant as other introduced species such as house sparrows and starlings.


http://www.sciences360.com/index.php...-america-6181/