Vol. III.] 



CHICORY FAMILY. 



271 



Taraxacum Taraxacum (L.) Karst. Dandelion. Blowball. (Fig. 3532.) 



Leonlodon Taraxacum L. Sp. PI. 798. 1753. 



T. officinale Weber, Prim. PI. Hoist. 56. 1780. 



T. Deiis-leonis Desf. Fl. Atlant. 2- 228. 1800. 



T. Taraxacum Karst. Deutsch. Fl. 1138. 

 1S80-83. 



Root thick, deep, ofteu 10' long, bitter. 

 Leaves oblong to spatulate in outline, 

 usually pubescent, at least when young, 

 acute or obtuse, pinnatifid, sinuate-dentate 

 or rarely nearly entire, rather succulent, 

 3'-io' long, yi'-iYi' wide, narrowed into 

 petioles; scape erect, 2'-i8' high; head 

 i'-2' broad; containing very numerous 

 golden-yellow flowers (150-200), inner 

 bracts of the involucre linear or linear- 

 lanceolate, the outer similar, shorter, not 

 glaucous, reflexed, all acute; achenes 

 greenish-brown, fusiform, spinulose above, 

 narrowed into a filiform beak 2-3-times 

 their length, which support the copious 

 white pappus, the fruiting mass of which 

 becomes globose when ripe. 



In fields and waste places. Perhaps indi- 

 genous northward, southward naturalized as a weed from Europe. Also in .Asia and distributed as 

 a weed in all civilized parts of the world. Jan. -Dec. Called also Lion's-tooth, Cankerwort, Milk-, 

 Witch-, or Vellow-Gowan, Irish Daisy, Monk's-head, Priest's Crown, Puff-ball. 



Tar2ixacum Taraxacum alpinum (Koch) Porter, Mem. Torr. Club, 5: 349. 1894. 

 Taraxacum officinale var. alpinum Koch, Fl. Germ. & Helv. 428. 1837. 



Outer bracts of the involucre spreading, ovate or ovate-lanceolate. Labrador to British Co- 

 lumbia, .south in the Rocky Mountains to Utah and Colorado and in the Sierra Nevada to California. 

 .Also in Europe. Probably a distinct species, and indigenous. 



2. Taraxacum erythrospermum Andrz. 

 Red-seeded Dandelion. (Fig. 3533.) 



Taraxacum eiythrospermum Andrz. in Bess. Enum. 



PI. Volh. 75. 1821. 



Similar to the preceding species, the leaves gla- 

 brous, very deeply ruucinate-pinnatifid or pin- 

 nately divided into narrower triangular-lanceolate 

 usually long-pointed segments; scapes glabrous, 

 or pubescent above; heads rarely more than i' 

 broad, 7o-93.flowered; bracts of the involucre 

 glaucous, the outer lanceolate, spreading or as- 

 cending, the inner linear, longer, each usually 

 with an appendage just below the tip; flowers 

 sulphur-yellow, the outer rays purplish without; 

 achenes narrower, bright red, or red-brown, spin- 

 ulose above, the filiform beak not more than twice 

 their length; pappus dirty white. 



In fields and woods, Maine to southern New York 

 and Pennsylvania, and probably much more widely 

 distributed. Naturalized from Europe ? April-June, 



14. SONCHUS I,. Sp. PI. 793. 1753. 



Annual or perennial succulent herbs, with alternate, mostly auriculate-clasping, entire 

 dentate lobed or pinnatifid, prickly-margined leaves, and large or middle-sized, peduucled 

 corymbose or paniculate heads of yellow flowers. Involucre ovoid or campanulate, usually 

 becoming thickened and more or less conic at the base when old, its bracts herbaceous or 

 membranous, imbricated in several series, the outer successively smaller. Receptacle flat, 

 naked. Rays truncate and 5-toothed at the apex. Anthers sagittate at the base. Style- 

 branches slender. .Achenes oval, oblong, or linear, more or less flattened, io-20-ribbed, some- 

 what narrowed at the base, truncate. Pappus of very copious soft white simple capillary 

 bristles, usually falling away connected, sometimes with i or 2 stouter ones which fall sepa- 

 rately. [The Greek name of the Sow-thistle.] 



About 45 species, natives of the old World. Besides the following, another otcurs on the Pa- 

 cific Coast. 



