垂头蒲公英组 chui tou pu gong ying zu

Hairs on scapes and on some leaves often on low protuberances. Capitulum nodding after anthesis. Outer phyllaries very numerous, linear-lanceolate, irregularly recurved, apical part attenuate, apex with a horn; inner phyllaries ± equaling outer ones. Florets brownish orange. Stigmas dark blackish violet when dry. Achene pale brown, medium-sized; body ± broad, apically subgradually narrowing into a 0.5-0.8 mm subconic cone; beak 1-1.5 cm. Pappus dirty white to brownish white. Sexual.

● One species: China.

The section was described on the basis of the report of a biennial life cycle in cultivated material. The bienniality of Taraxacum nutans is excluded on the basis of the study of plants collected in the wild. They often have a root head with a tunic (see the generic description). Field observations show almost complete absence of sterile leaf rosettes in natural populations (almost all plants flowering), another feature supporting the most common Taraxacum pattern.

Lower Taxon

• Taraxacum nutans Dahlstedt