English: Common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Along side the disused Grantham Canal towpath there were hundreds of dandelion clocks. The common name derives from the French 'dent de lion', meaning 'lion's tooth', which refers to the deeply toothed, deep green leaves. The bright yellow flower heads are borne on hollow stalks, and the downy seed heads are familiar to children as dandelion clocks, which are used to 'tell the time' by the number of blows taken to remove the seeds. Vernacular names for the dandelion include 'wet-the-bed' and 'pissy-beds', which refer to the belief that just touching part of a dandelion can cause bed-wetting.