Dense-bracted dandelion

Taraxacum fasciatum is a perennial herbaceous microspecies within the apomictic Taraxacum officinale aggregate (Asteraceae). Like other dandelions, it produces a stout, fleshy taproot from which arises a basal rosette of oblanceolate leaves with deeply pinnatifid or runcinate lobes pointing toward the base. The leaves are glabrous to sparsely hairy and exude a milky latex when broken. Flowering stems (scapes) are hollow, leafless, and bear a single solitary capitulum of bright yellow ligulate florets, blooming in spring and again in autumn. The involucral bracts are arranged in two series, the outer often reflexed or spreading, which is one of several microcharacters used to distinguish dandelion microspecies. After anthesis the receptacle elongates and the achenes mature into a globose pappus head ("clock"), each achene topped by a slender beak bearing a parachute of whitish hairs that aids wind dispersal. Densely bracted forms within the aggregate are recognised by particularly congested or imbricate involucral bracts.