Taraxacum bicorne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Taraxacum bicorne | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Taraxacum |
| Species: | T. bicorne |
| Binomial name | |
| Taraxacum bicorne Dahlst. | |
Taraxacum bicorne, commonly known as the two-horned dandelion or Russian dandelion,[1] is a perennial species of dandelion native to Central Asia, the western Himalaya, and the Russian Far East. It primarily inhabits temperate biomes and occurs in regions such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and parts of western China, including Gansu, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The species was first formally described in 1906 by Swedish botanist Gustaf Dahlstedt in Arkiv för Botanik. In Chinese, it is referred to as 双角蒲公英 (shuang jiao pu gong ying).[2]
Taraxacum bicorne is a small, herbaceous plant typically ranging from 4 to 17 cm in height. Its leaves are glabrous and glaucous green, with narrowly winged pale green petioles and pinkish midveins. The leaf blades are narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly oblong and exhibit a pinnatilobed to pinnatifid structure. There are generally four to five pairs of lateral lobes, which are commonly deltoid or falcate in shape. The terminal lobe is either triangular or divided into three parts. The scapes, which are often longer than the leaves, are purplish or brownish green in color.[1]
The flower head (capitulum) measures 2–3 cm in diameter and is surrounded by an involucre 5–8 mm wide. It bears 9–14 outer phyllaries, often tinged with purple and featuring suberect horns up to 2 mm long. The ligules are light yellow, with the outer ones displaying brownish-purple stripes on the reverse. The plant produces fertile anthers and uniformly sized pollen grains. The achenes are light grayish straw-colored, measuring 3.7–4.2 mm in length, and have a subconical cone and spinulose upper surface. The beak is 7–9 mm long, and the pappus is bright white, measuring 5–6 mm.[2]
Flowering occurs in late spring and early summer. The species is sexual and is typically found in subsaline pastures and grasslands at elevations between 600 and 1800 meters.[2]