Taraxacum horridifrons

Taraxacum horridifrons is a dandelion microspecies of the daisy family (Asteraceae), belonging to the large apomictic section Ruderalia (the common dandelion aggregate). It is a rosette-forming perennial herb arising from a stout, milky-sapped taproot. The basal leaves are deeply and sharply cut into recurved, triangular lobes, giving the plant its name, and are greyish with short hairs. Leafless hollow flowering stalks bear solitary heads composed entirely of yellow ligulate florets; the outer involucral bracts are grey-white and the stigmas dark. After flowering, the head matures into a globe of single-seeded fruits, each tipped with a parachute of fine hairs that aids wind dispersal. Like other Ruderalia dandelions it reproduces asexually through apomixis and favours grassland, roadsides, lawns and other disturbed, open ground.