COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



535 



DANDELION 



Taraxacum officindle, Weber 



Other English names: Blowball, Cankerwort, Doon-head-clock, 

 Yellow Gowan, Witch's Gowan, Milk Witch. 



Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom: All months in the year, where the weather is not at 

 freezing point. Most abundant in spring. 



Seed-time : Seeds ready for dispersal within two weeks from the un- 

 folding of the flower. 



Range : Cosmopolitan. 



Habitat: Fields, meadows, lawns, waste places. 



Wherever civilized man has established himself and cultivated the 

 ground, he has carried and sown this weed, and, once in the soil, the 

 Dandelion can be depended on to hold it. 

 Drought does not affect it, the root being 

 large, thick, fleshy, driven deeply into the 

 soil, sometimes to a length of twenty 

 inches ; and cutting the crowns from the 

 roots will not kill this weed as it does 

 many taprooted plants ; indeed, any part of 

 a root will sprout leaves and make a new 

 plant if buried in warm, moist soil. All 

 parts of the plant are protected by bitter, 

 milky juices which animals usually dislike, 

 so that even in pastures it often thrives 

 and reproduces itself unharmed. 



Leaves basal, three inches to more than 

 a foot long, blunt lance-shaped in outline 

 but deeply and irregularly lobed and 

 toothed, the divisions usually pointing 

 toward the base, somewhat hairy when 

 young but soon becoming smooth, spread- 

 ing on the ground in a flat rosette ; petioles 

 margined and short. Scapes smooth, 

 hollow, cylindrical, short at first but 

 lengthening with maturity. Flower-heads 

 often nearly two inches broad, deep golden yellow, opening only 

 in fair weather, and closing and reopening several times before 



FIG. 370. Dandelion 

 (Taraxacum officinale). 

 XJ. 



