Taraxacum officinale F.H.Wigg.
-
Authority
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
-
Family
Asteraceae
-
Scientific Name
-
Description
Species Description - Lvs commonly sparsely hairy beneath and on the midrib, otherwise generally glabrous, or sometimes completely so, oblanceolate, 6–40 × 0.7–15 cm, ± runcinate-pinnatifid or lobed, the terminal lobe tending to be larger than the others, tapering to a narrow, scarcely or obscurely winged petiolar base; scapes 5–50 cm, glabrous or ± villous, especially upward; heads usually large, the invol mostly 1.5–2.5 cm, inner bracts mostly 13–20, usually not or scarcely corniculate, at first erect, finally reflexed, the mature achenes and pappus then forming a conspicuous ball; outer bracts reflexed, a little shorter and scarcely wider than the inner; body of the achene 3–4 mm, pale gray-brown or stramineous, muricate above or sometimes to near the base, the beak 2.5–4 times as long as the body; 2n=16–48, often 24. Lawns and disturbed sites; native of Eurasia, now a cosmopolitan weed of temperate climates. Apr.–Dec. (Leontodon taraxacum)
-
Common Names
common dandelion