Cut-leaved dandelion

Taraxacum dissectum is a perennial herb of the Asteraceae, a member of the apomictic Taraxacum (dandelion) microspecies complex native to Eurasia, particularly the steppes and mountain meadows of central and eastern Europe and western Asia. Like other dandelions it grows from a stout vertical taproot containing white latex, producing a basal rosette of pinnately divided ("dissected") leaves with backward-pointing lobes. A leafless hollow scape 10 to 25 cm tall bears a single yellow flower head composed entirely of ligulate florets, which open in spring and early summer. The fruit is a ribbed achene with a long beak and white feathery pappus, dispersed by wind. It occurs in dry meadows, calcareous grasslands and disturbed ground, and shares the chemistry and morphology of the wider T. officinale aggregate.