Taraxacum obliquum

Taraxacum obliquum is a perennial herb in the daisy family Asteraceae, one of the many apomictic microspecies that make up the Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) aggregate. Like other dandelions it forms a basal rosette of leaves arising from a stout, fleshy taproot, the whole plant exuding a milky white latex when broken. The leaves are oblanceolate and deeply lobed or runcinate with backward-pointing teeth. Each flowering stalk is a hollow, leafless scape bearing a single head composed entirely of yellow strap-shaped ray florets, subtended by involucral bracts. After flowering the head develops into the familiar spherical seed clock of plumed achenes (cypselae) dispersed by wind. Taraxacum obliquum is distinguished within the aggregate by fine technical characters of its leaf shape, involucral bracts, pollen and achene colour, and it favours dry, sandy or open grassy habitats. As with the aggregate generally, it is a hardy, weedy plant of disturbed and open ground.