Taraxacum officinale Weber ex Wigg.
Family: Asteraceae, Tribe: Chicorieae
Pertinent Synonyms & Notes (particularly those used in California; go to GRIN for other synonyms)
Taraxacum vulgare (Lam.) Schrank., T. laevigatum (Willd.) DC.
Pertinent Common Names (particularly those used in California; go to GRIN for other common names)
dandelion
Primary Disseminule Type
fruit (sometimes with beak & pappus missing)
Description (diagnostics are in brown)
Fruit a cypsela. Cypsela body oblanceolate, tapered at both ends, the distal end consisting of a short cone (0.5–0.9 mm long) to which the beak is attached. Body compressed, cross-section elliptic to quadrangular, (2)2.5–3.5(5) mm long x 1–1.3 mm wide x 0.5–0.8 mm thick. Surface glabrous, dull, olive-brown or straw-colored to grayish, longitudinally ribbed (ribs deep, sharp, with 3–5 teeth on the distal portion). Apex strongly beaked (beak slender, 7–10 mm long, white to cream or rarely dark). Pappus of many fine, white to sordid bristles 5–8 mm long, persistent.
Style base ± cylindrical to lobed, whitish.
Fruit attachment scar at base, a ± round cup-like structure, same color as rest of fruit body but darker inside cup.
Similar Species
Similar Species Comparison Chart
Risk Assessment (codes in yellow or red indicate cause for concern; assessments are current as of mid-2011; click AUQP, NZBORIC, or NZBPI for access to the most recent versions of these databases and possible assessment changes)
AUQP, NZBORIC, NZBPI