Taraxacum praestans

Taraxacum praestans is a microspecies within the Taraxacum officinale aggregate (Asteraceae), the common dandelion complex of obligate-apomictic lineages. Like other members of the aggregate it is a perennial herb with a stout, fleshy, branched taproot and a basal rosette of oblanceolate leaves that are deeply pinnately lobed and lyrate, the lobes typically retrorse and giving rise to the colloquial "lion's tooth" name. The leaves and stems exude a milky white latex when broken. Solitary flower heads are borne atop hollow, leafless scapes 10-30 cm tall, composed entirely of bright yellow ligulate ray florets backed by reflexed outer involucral bracts. The fruit is an achene with a long beak topped by a parachute-like pappus of fine bristles, dispersed by wind. The microspecies occurs across temperate Europe in meadows, lawns, and disturbed ground, and is morphologically and chemically very close to the broader T. officinale group.