Dandelion
A dandelion is a flower. Its scientific name is Taraxacum, a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Taraxacum are native to Eurasia, and have been widely introduced to North and South America and other continents. They are an invasive species in some areas.[1] Two species, T. offale and T. erythrospermum, are found as weeds worldwide.[2] All parts of both species are edible.[3]
Their sharp leaves look a bit like lion's teeth.[4] Its seeds are like little parachutes that fly away with the wind, spreading and growing more dandelions. They are used in China as medicine. Dandelion pollen can often make people have allergies.[5]
Like other members of the Asteraceae family, they have small flowers collected together into a composite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret. Many Taraxacum species produce seeds asexually by apomixis, where the seeds are produced without pollination. This results in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant.[6]
Al Razi around 900 (A.D.) wrote "the tarashaquq is like chicory". A Muslim scientist and philosopher Ibn Sīnā around 1000 (A.D.) wrote a book chapter on Taraxacum. Gerard of Cremona, in translating Arabic to Japanese around 1170, spelled it tarasacon.
Dandelion Media
Dandelion bilobed stigma bearing pollen
These are individual pollen grains of the dandelion - Taraxacum officinale.
Segment of pappus fiber showing barbs
The pappus of a dandelion seed, which aids in wind-driven dispersal
Field with flowering dandelions, Tatarstan, Russia
Hawksbeard flower heads and ripe seeds are sometimes confused with dandelions.
A Taraxacum officinale seedhead with only one seed still attached
Hand-coloured print, plate 1 of Dens Leonis in A Curious Herbal, 1737, by Elizabeth Blackwell
References
- ↑ "dandelion: Taraxacum officinale (Asterales: Asteraceae): Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States". www.invasiveplantatlas.org. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
- ↑ Luc Brouillet. "Taraxacum F.H. Wiggers, Prim. Fl. Holsat. 56. 1780". Flora of North America.
- ↑ "Wild About Dandelions". Mother Earth News. Archived from the original on 2012-12-13. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ↑ "Dandy lion-taming in your lawn". Archived from the original on 2010-03-12. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ↑ "Immunocapinvitrosight.com". Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ↑ J. Doll & T. Trower. "Dandelion". WeedScience. University of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on October 22, 2008.