Taraxacum pallidipes

Taraxacum pallidipes is a perennial herb of the Asteraceae belonging to the common dandelion aggregate (section Ruderalia). It forms a basal rosette of deeply and irregularly toothed or pinnately lobed leaves arising from a stout taproot, with the lobes often directed backward as in typical dandelions. The solitary flower heads are borne on hollow, leafless, milky-juiced scapes and are composed entirely of yellow strap-shaped ray florets. After flowering, the head matures into a spherical cluster of plumed achenes forming the familiar dispersal puffball. As a member of the triploid, apomictic Ruderalia complex, it reproduces largely by seed without fertilisation. It occurs in temperate Europe and western Asia in grassland, meadows, lawns, roadsides, and other open, disturbed ground.