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• Taraxacum laevigatum

Taraxacum laevigatum — red-seeded dandelion

Facts

Red-seeded dandelion is native to Europe and widely introduced in North America. The leaf blades are more narrowly and deeply lobed than other dandelion (Taraxacum) species. All parts of the plant are edible.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bases of bract appendages

  NA

  Bract cycle number

  there are two main cycles of bracts

  Bract inner side hairs

  the bracts are not hairy on their inner surfaces

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are not hairy on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  the bracts are not hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are linear (long and very narrow)

  Bract texture

  the bracts have a similar texture to a leaf

  Bract tip extension appearance

  the projections from the bract tips have small spines extending from them

  Bract tip extension edge

  there are projections from the bract tips

  Bract tip orientation

  the tips of the bracts curve outwards and downwards from the plant

  Bract tip shape

  the tips of the bracts are acuminate (tapered to a narrow point)

  Bract width

  1.2–2.1

  Bracts

  there are at least two distinct forms of bracts in different cycles

  Disk flower color

  NA

  Disk flower lobe number

  0

  Disk flower number

  0

  Disk flower proportions

  NA

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  NA

  Disk flower shape

  NA

  Flower head number

  each flowering stem has only one to three flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has no bristles or papery scales

  Flower head platform surface

  NA

  Flower head profile

  the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top

  Flower head shape

  the sides of the flower head are roughly parallel, like a cylinder

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has ray flowers only, meaning all of the individual flowers of the flower head have a strap-shaped ray, which may or may not have teeth at the very tip of the ray

  Height of flower head base

  10–25 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence stem

  • hairs are present on the stem of the inflorescence
  • the stem of the inflorescence is not hairy

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  11–13

  Ovary beak

  there is a beak on the ovary

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section

  Ovary surface

  the ovary surface is textured with tiny points, bumps or wrinkles

  Ray flower color

  yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have both carpels and stamens

  Ray flowers

  more than 50

  Ray length

  12–16 mm

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant contain both carpels and stamens

  Scale tip

  NA

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is a cycle of much smaller bracts outside the cycle of larger and longer bracts

  Style branch number

  there are no obvious branches on the style

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  11 or more

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  2.2–4 mm

  Seed hair tuft bases

  the pappus hairs are not attached to one another near the base

  Seed hair tuft color

  the pappus hairs are white or off-white

  Seed hair tuft details

  the pappus hairs are hooked or barbed

  Seed hair tuft length

  4–7 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  the pappus hairs are slender

  Seed hairs uniform

  all the pappus hairs are approximately the same length

  Seed tuft scale number

  0

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of very fine hairs or bristles

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  at least a part of the plume is made up of fine bristles

• Glands or sap

  Leaf blade glands

  the leaf blades have no glandular (translucent) dots or scales

  Sap

  the sap is milky and opaque, and may be white or colored

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  there is a thickened taproot on the plant

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant (basal)

  Leaf blade base

  the leaf has a distinct petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade bloom

  • the underside of the leaf has no noticeable bloom
  • there is a noticeable powdery or waxy bloom on the underside of the leaf

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes

  Leaf blade hairs

  NA

  Leaf blade length

  50–250 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is oblanceolate (lance-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)
  • the leaf blade is obovate (egg-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  there is no noticeable color variation on the upper surface of the leaf

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acuminate (tapers to a long, thin point)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is obtuse (bluntly pointed)

  Leaf blade width

  10–40 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the lower leaves are larger, toothier, and/or on longer stalks than the upper leaves

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have leaf stalks

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf tufts in axils

  there are no clusters of smaller leaves

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  0

  Specific leaf type

  the leaf has a row of two or more lobes on each side of the central axis

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant does not have much of an odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem cross-section

  the flowering stem is circular, or with lots of small angles

  Leaves on stem

  the flowering stem has no leaves above the base

  Stem bloom

  • the stem has a powdery or waxy film on it that can be rubbed away
  • there is no powdery or waxy film on the stem

  Stem internode hairs

  • the stem has hairs between the nodes
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem wings

  the stem does not have wings on it

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae