Red-seeded Dandelion

Taraxacum laevigatum erythrospermum

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Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Asterales

Family:

Asteraceae (Daisy)

Also in this family:

Annual Sunflower, Autumn Hawkbit, Beaked Hawksbeard, Black Knapweed, Black-eyed Susan, Blanketflower, Blue Fleabane, Blue Globe-thistle, Bristly Oxtongue, Butterbur, Buttonweed, Canadian Fleabane, Canadian Goldenrod, Carline Thistle, Chalk Knapweed, Coltsfoot, Common Blue Sow-thistle, Common Cat's-ear, Common Daisy, Common Dandelion, Common Fleabane, Common Goldenrod, Common Groundsel, Common Michaelmas Daisy, Common Mugwort, Common Ragwort, Confused Michaelmas Daisy, Corn Marigold, Cornflower, Creeping Thistle, Dwarf Thistle, Early Goldenrod, Feverfew, Fox and Cubs, Goat's Beard, Greater Burdock, Greater Knapweed, Grey-headed Hawkweed, Heath Groundsel, Hemp Agrimony, Hoary Ragwort, Lavender-cotton, Lesser Burdock, Lesser Hawkbit, Marsh Cudweed, Marsh Ragwort, Marsh Thistle, Mexican Fleabane, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Musk Thistle, Narrow-leaved Ragwort, New England Hawkweed, Nipplewort, Oxeye Daisy, Oxford Ragwort, Perennial Cornflower, Perennial Sow-thistle, Pineapple Mayweed, Ploughman's Spikenard, Pot Marigold, Prickly Lettuce, Prickly Sow-thistle, Rough Hawkbit, Scented Mayweed, Scentless Mayweed, Sea Aster, Sea Mayweed, Seaside Daisy, Shaggy Soldier, Shasta Daisy, Shrub Ragwort, Silver Ragwort, Smooth Hawksbeard, Smooth Sow-thistle, Sneezeweed, Sneezewort, Spear Thistle, Sticky Groundsel, Tansy, Trifid Bur-marigold, Tyneside Leopardplant, Wall Lettuce, Yarrow

Type:

Flower

Maximum Size:

20 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Farmland, grassland, heathland, lawns, marshes, meadows, roadsides, rocks, sand dunes, seaside, walls, wasteland.

Flower:

Yellow, many petals

Solitary pale yellow flowers, about 1 inch (2.5cm) across. Flowerheads are composed entirely of ray florets. Flowers have between 150 and 200 ray florets. The flowers of Red-seeded Dandelion are smaller than those of Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officianale).

Fruit:

The fruit of Dandelions are known as achenes. It consists of a single oblong seed tipped by a feathery ring of hairs. The Red-seeded Dandelion can be easily distinguished from Common Dandelion in that it's seeds are reddish-brown and not beige-coloured.

Leaves:

All leaves are basal. They measure up to 10 inches (25cm) long and 1.5 inches (4cm wide). Deeply pinnate, backward-pointing, triangular but narrow leaf lobes. The lobes are pointed at the tips. Perennial. The Latin name for Red-seeded Dandelion is sometimes known as Taraxacum laevigatum and sometimes as Taraxacum erythrospermum. Erythrospermum is considered to be a variety of laevigatum. The Red-seeded Dandelion leaf lobes are more triangular in shape than those of Common Dandelion. Also worth noting is that the lobes are the tip are approximately the same size as the lobes at the base of the leaf, unlike those of Common Dandelion.

Other Names:

Lesser Dandelion, Red-Seed Dandelion, Rock Dandelion.

Frequency (UK):

Common

Similar Species:

Common Dandelion