Taraxacum ostenfeldii

Taraxacum ostenfeldii is a perennial herb of the daisy family (Asteraceae) belonging to the Taraxacum officinale (dandelion) aggregate, a complex of largely apomictic microspecies. It is distributed across parts of Europe, growing in grassland, meadows, lawns, roadsides and other open, often disturbed habitats. Like other members of the dandelion group it forms a basal rosette of leaves arising from a stout, fleshy taproot, the whole plant containing a milky white latex. The leaves are oblanceolate in outline with the margins variously toothed to deeply pinnately lobed. Each flowering stem is a hollow, leafless scape bearing a single head composed entirely of yellow strap-shaped (ligulate) ray florets. The fruit is an achene bearing a slender beak and a parachute-like pappus of white hairs, forming the familiar spherical seed head. The microspecies are distinguished by subtle differences in leaf shape, bract orientation and pollen.