Species: Taraxacum officinale ssp. ceratophorum (Ledeb.) Schinz ex Thellung

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Taraxacum officinale ssp. ceratophorum (Ledeb.) Schinz ex Thellung

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TAXONOMY

Family:

Asteraceae or Compositae

Genus:

Taraxacum

Species Synonyms:

Taraxacum mitratum Hagl.
Taraxacum multesimum Hagl.
Taraxacum naevosum Dahlst.
Taraxacum ovinum Rydb.
Taraxacum paucisquamosum M.E. Peck
Taraxacum pellianum Porsild
Taraxacum pseudonorvegicum Dahlst.
Taraxacum purpuridens Dahlst.
Taraxacum torngatense Fern.
Taraxacum umbrinum Dahlst.
Taraxacum carthamopsis Porsild
Taraxacum ceratophorum (Ledeb.) DC.
Taraxacum dumetorum Greene
Taraxacum eurylepium Dahlst.
Taraxacum hyperboreum Dahlst.
Taraxacum integratum Hagl.
Taraxacum lacerum Greene
Taraxacum lapponicum Kihlm. ex Hand.-Maz.
Taraxacum latispinulosum M.P. Christens.
Taraxacum laurentianum Fern.
Taraxacum longii Fern.
Taraxacum malteanum Dahlst.
Taraxacum maurolepium Hagl.
Taraxacum ambigens Fern.
Taraxacum ambigens var. flutius Fern.
Taraxacum amphiphron Böcher
Taraxacum arctogenum Dahlst.
Taraxacum brachyceras Dahlst.
Taraxacum trigonolobum Dahlst.

Common Names:

fleshy dandelion
horned dandelion
rough dandelion

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

Yukon Territory – Northwest Territories – Baffin Island, south to British Columbia – northern Ontario – eastern Quebec – Labrador

Saskatchewan:

province-wide; Lake Athabasca – Hasbala Lake – Cypress Hills

Ecoregion:

Cypress Upland, Moist Mixed Grassland, Boreal Transition, Churchill River Upland, Tazin Lake Upland, Selwyn Lake Upland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

open woods, rocky slopes, thickets, drying meadows and muskegs

Associated Species:

black spruce, diamondleaf willow, glaucous bluegrass, three-toothed saxifrage

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Vulnerable

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5 S2

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Fleshy dandelion is vulnerable because it is almost always locally sparse. This species occurs over a wide range in Saskatchewan and no immediate threats are known at this time.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Height:

10 – 25 cm tall

Roots:

taproot fleshy

Stems:

may be tufted, hollow, milky juice, up to twice as long as leaves, straw-coloured to reddish at top, hairless, may be hairy below the flower heads

Leaves:

basal rosette, stalk broad-winged, leaves 15 – 20 cm long, 2 – 4 cm wide, linear to broadly spoon-shaped, hairless or slightly hairy, thin, margin coarsely toothed to having downward pointing lobes, spine-tipped

Inflorescence:

heads solitary, ray flowers only; bracts in 3 series; outer 2 series to 6 mm long, to 2 mm wide, oval to lance-shaped, pressed to head in flower, may be downward pointing in fruiting, straw-coloured to whitish-brown to greyish-brown; inner series 1 – 2 cm long, to 2 mm wide, lance-shaped, green with or without black tip, may have horned appendage near tip; receptacle naked

Flowers:

ray flowers perfect, sulphur to orange yellow

Fruits:

achenes to 5 mm long, brown to gray to olive or black, ribbed, small tuber-like swellings present, beak 6 – 15 mm long; pappus white to creamy

TARAXACUM KEY FOR SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN

1 Outer bracts pressed to head or ascending, may appear downward pointing in fruit; may have horn-like appendages on inner bracts; mature achenes with small tuber-like swellings, nearly to base, lacking conspicuous flat areas between swellings	T. officinale ssp. ceratophorum
1 Outer bracts downward pointing; inner bracts may or may not have horn-like appendages; mature achenes with small tuber-like appendages above middle only, if below, with conspicuous flat areas between tuber-like appendages	2

2 Leaves divided almost to midrib, terminal segments small; bracts may have horn-like appendages near tip; achenes reddish	T. laevigatum
2 Leaves shallowly lobed, terminal segment large; no horn-like appendages near tip; achenes olive to brown	T. officinale ssp. officinale