Jo Anne Russo, age 11, of Somerset, New Jersey, for her question:

How did the dandelion get such a name?

Word experts report that for this we must thank the people of France. They named this sassy little plant the Lion's Teeth   using their words for tooth and lion. This must have happened in the dim past because the Norman French took the word with them when they conquered England a thousand years ago. The English changed the French "dent de lion" to dandelion and adopted it into their language.

The name may seem rather farfetched. But take a close look at the dandelion's neat leafy rosette, growing close to the ground. The sides of each long leaf have rows of points    the points that reminded someone long ago of the teeth of a lion. Nowadays, some of us enjoy the fairy dandelion clocks, others rip out the rosettes when they weed their lawns. Some people eat the tangy leaves in salads and others insist that dandelion roots are delicious, if you know how and just when to dig them up.