Taraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, and two species, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum , are found as weeds worldwide. Both species are edible in their entirety. Named for their sharp, serrated leaves that resemble lion's teeth. The common name Dandelion (pronounced /ˈdændɨlaɪ.ən/ (DAN-dih-ly-un) is given to members of the genus, and like other members of the Asteraceae family, they have very 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, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant.
Description
The species of Taraxacum are tap-rooted biennial or perennial herbaceous plants, native to temperate areas of the Old World.
The leaves are 5–25 cm long or longer, simple and basal, entire or lobed, forming a rosette above the central taproot. The flower heads are yellow to orange colored, and are open in the daytime but closed at night. The heads are borne singly on a hollow stem (scape) which rises 4–75 cm above the leaves and exudes a milky sap (latex) when broken. A rosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower heads are 2–5 cm in diameter and consists entirely of ray florets. The flower heads mature into a spherical "clocks" containing many single-seeded fruits called achenes. Each achene is attached to a pappus of fine hairs, which enable wind-aided dispersal over long distances.
The flower head is surrounded by bracts (sometimes mistakenly called sepals) in two series. The inner bracts are erect until the seeds mature, then flex downward to allow the seeds to disperse; the outer bracts are always reflexed downward. Some species drop the "parachute" from the achenes; the hair-like parachutes are called pappus , and they are modified sepals. Between the pappus and the achene, there is a stalk called a beak, which elongates as the fruit matures. The beak breaks off from the achene quite easily, separating the seed from the parachute.
Dandelion leaves are believed to have a diuretic effect as they increase salt and water excretion from the kidneys.
Taxonomy
The genus is taxonomically complex, with some botanists dividing the group into numerous macrospecies, and many more microspecies: approximately 235 apomictic and polyploid microspecies have been recorded in Great Britain and Ireland. Some botanists take a much narrower view and only accept a total of about 60 species.
Selected species
- Taraxacum albidum , a white-flowering Japanese dandelion.
- Taraxacum californicum , the endangered California dandelion
- Taraxacum officinale (syn. T. officinale subsp. vulgare ), Common Dandelion. Found in many forms.
- Taraxacum japonicum , Japanese dandelion. No ring of smallish, downward-turned leaves under the flowerhead.
- Taraxacum kok-saghyz , Russian dandelion, which produces rubber
- Taraxacum laevigatum (syn. T. erythrospermum ), Red-seeded Dandelion; achenes reddish brown and leaves deeply cut throughout length. Inner bracts' tips are hooded.
Seed dispersal
A number of species of Taraxacum are regarded as seed dispersed weeds or ruderals, especially the Common dandelion ( T. officinale ), which has been introduced over much of the temperate world as a lawn weed. After pollination and flowering is finished, the dandelion flower dries out for a day or two and then the seed-bearing parachutes expand and lift out of the dried flower head. The dried part of the flower drops off and the parachute ball opens into a full sphere. The parachute drops off when the seed strikes an obstacle. Often dandelions are observed growing in crevices near a wall; when the blowing fruits hit the wall, the feathery pappi comes off, dropping the dandelion seeds to the base of the wall or into a crevice. After the seed is released, the parachutes lose their feathered structure and take on a fuzzy, cotton-like appearance, often called "dandelion snow".
Dandelions are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). See List of Lepidoptera that feed on dandelions.
Away from their native regions, some dandelion species have become established in the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand, and are now common throughout all temperate regions, Taraxacum officinale has become a nearly world wide weed.
False dandelions
Dandelions are so similar to catsears ( Hypochaeris ) that catsears are also known as "false dandelions". Both plants carry similar flowers which form into windborne seeds. However, dandelion flowers are borne singly on unbranched, hairless and leafless, hollow stems, while catsear flowering stems are branched, solid and carry bracts. Both plants have a basal rosette of leaves and a central taproot. However, the leaves of dandelions are smooth or glabrous, whereas those of catsears are coarsely hairy.
Other plants with superficially similar flowers include hawkweeds ( Hieracium ) and hawksbeards ( Crepis ). These are both readily distinguished by their branched flowering stems which are usually hairy and bear leaves.
History
Dandelions are thought to have evolved about thirty million years ago in Eurasia; they have been used by humans for food and as a herb for much of recorded history. They were introduced to North America by early European immigrants.
Origin of the name
The English name dandelion is a corruption of the French dent de lion meaning "lion's tooth", referring to the coarsely toothed leaves. The names of the plant have the same meaning in several other European languages, such as the Welsh dant y llew , Italian dente di leone , Catalan dent de lleó , Spanish diente de león , Portuguese dente-de-leão , Norwegian Løvetann , Danish Løvetand and German Löwenzahn .
In modern French the plant is named pissenlit, (or Pisse au Lit Fr vernacular). Likewise, "pissabeds" is an English folk-name for this plant, as is piscialletto in Italian and the Spanish meacamas . These names refer to the strong diuretic effect of the roots of the herb, roasted or raw/fresh. In various north-eastern Italian dialects the plant is known as pisacan ("dog pisses"), referring to how common they are found at the side of pavements.
In France it is also known as Laitue de Chien (Dog's lettuce); Salade de Taupe (Mole's salad or Brown salad), Florin d'Or (Golden florin); Cochet (Cockerel); Fausse Chicorée (False Chicory); Couronne de moine (Monk's crown); Baraban .
In several European languages the plant, or at least its parachute ball stage, is named after the popular children's pastime of blowing the parachutes off the stalk: Pusteblume (German for "blowing flower"), soffione (Italian for "blowing"; in some northern Italian dialects), dmuchawiec (Polish, derived from the verb "blow"), одуванчик (Russian, derived from the verb "blow").
In other languages the plant is named after the white sap found in its stem, e.g. Mlecz (derived from the Polish word for "milk"), kutyatej (Hungarian for "dog milk"), маслачак (derived from the Serbian word маслац , meaning "butter")). Also the Lithuanian name kiaulpienė can be translated as "sow milk", and similarly, in Latvian it is called ' pienene , the word being derived from piens - milk.
The alternative Hungarian name gyermekláncfű ("child's chain grass"), refers to the habit of children to pick dandelions, remove the flowers, and make links out of the stems by "plugging" the narrow top end of the stem into the wider bottom end. In Macedonian, it's called глуварче , stemming from the word глув which means deaf , because of a traditional belief that says that if a dandelion parachute gets in your ear, you might become deaf. In Turkish the dandelion is called karahindiba meaning "black endive". While the root flesh is white colored, the outer skin of the root is dark brown or black. In Swedish, it is called maskros ("worm rose", named after the small insects (thrips) usually present in the flowers ). In Finnish and Estonian, it is called voikukka and võilill , respectively, meaning "butter flower", referring to its buttery colour. In Dutch it is called paardebloem , meaning "horse-flower". In Chinese it is called "蒲公英" (pronounced pu gong ying), meaning flower that grows in public spaces by the riverside. In Japanese, it is tanpopo ( タンポポ ? )
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