Dandelion

Asteraceae

LIFE FORM: Perennial

NATIVITY: Eurasia

VEGETATIVE CHARACTERISTICS:

A low-growing plant consiting of basal rosette of dark leaves with jagged margins and a stout taproot.

FLOWERS:

Bright yellow composite flowers bloom in spring and again in fall.

FRUIT/DISPERSAL AGENTS:

Wind-dispersed fruits with a feathery pappus are clustered together to form an iconic, round seed head; viable seeds formed without pollination (parthenocarpic development); also sprouts from pieces of the root left behind following attempted removal.

ECOLOGICAL PREFERENCE:

A broadly adapted plant that is very tolerant of close mowing. Prefers trampled lawns in public parks; neglected residential and commercial landscapes; minimally maintained public parks and open space; vacant lots and rubble dump sites; small-scale pavement openings (tree pits) and cracks; rock outcrops and stone walls; unmowed highway banks and median strips with frequent salt applications; railroad tracks with ballast substrate.

ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTION:

Disturbance-adapted colonizer.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:

Despised by homeowners; millions of dollars are spent on herbicides to control this plant; greens are edible in the early spring; used in traditional medicine. Listed by John Josselyn in New-England’s Rarities, published in 1672, under the category: “Of such plants as have sprung up since the English planted and kept cattle in New England.”