Taraxacum officinale
Dandelion
How do you recognise dandelion?
The leaves form a dense rosette flat against the ground and have jagged edges. The stem is hollow and leafless, and white latex runs from it when it breaks. Each stem carries one yellow flower head, which opens by day and closes at night.
What is it confused with?
Hawkweeds and sow-thistles resemble the dandelion in their yellow heads. Their stems carry leaves and branch, while the hollow dandelion stem is leafless and holds a single head.
Where does dandelion grow, and when does it flower?
Grows in yards, lawns, roadside verges, and waste ground throughout the country. Flowers in May and June, often again in late summer.
Can you collect it for a herbarium?
The dandelion is common everywhere and may be collected freely from yards and roadsides. On the label: Write Taraxacum sp. on the label: the microspecies cannot be told apart without specialist knowledge.
Did you know?
The head looks like one flower but is made of several hundred tiny ones. The seeds develop without pollination, so the plant produces copies of itself, which is why there are hundreds of microspecies.
Where does dandelion grow in Finland?
The map shows where the species has been recorded. Darker squares mean more observations.
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Observations: GBIF ยท Map: CARTO, OpenStreetMap
Sources: fi.wikipedia.org, luke.fi
Identify plants with your phone
Linnea identifies a plant from a photo and tells you its name and its story. Every find takes its own numbered place in your herbarium, with the day and the town where you found it.
