Taraxacum tricolor

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Taraxacum tricolor

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"Plants 6–14 cm tall. Petiole purplish, relatively long, narrow to very narrowly winged (in outer leaves), plant base almost glabrous; leaves mid-green to dull deep green, subglabrous to sparsely aranose, narrowly oblanceolate in outline, usually 5–12 × (1–)1.5(–2) cm, pinnatisect, lateral segments in 4–6 pairs, usually linear-triangular, subrecurved to ± patent, entire or rarely with a single thin tooth, apex acute to lingulate, sometimes bent upwards, interlobes ± short, entire or subentire, margins often tar-coloured; terminal segment narrowly triangular to lingulate-triangular, sometimes elongated, not rarely sagittate, usually 1–3 cm long. Scapes green-purplish or brown-purplish, aranose, densely so below capitulum. Capitulum 2–3 cm wide. Involucre usually 8–9 mm wide, rounded at base. Outer phyllaries (8-)9–10(-12), black-green, often pinkish apically, ± not imbricate, appressed, ovate to ovate-lanceolate (to lanceolate), 5–6(–7) × 2–3 mm, with a distinct white to whitish-membranous or whitish-greenish border usually 0.5–0.8 mm wide, with an abrupt transition into the dark median part, margins sparsely ciliate, apex usually minutely blackish corniculate; inner phyllaries dark green with black apex, initially ca. 10–11 mm long, later elongating to reach 15(–18) mm, ± callose to flat. Ligules yellow, outer ligules almost flat, striped grey-pink to blackish-purple outside, inner ligules with blackish apical teeth. Stigmas dark green to grey. Anthers without pollen, rarely a few pollen grains hidden in the anther tube. Achenes light greyish straw-brown, 4.7–5.4 × 0.9–1 mm, upper 1/3–1/5 of achene body (and cone base) with subsparse to medium dense, sometimes remote coarse spinules and smaller spinules (usually bigger spinules on achene ridges, smaller ones between ridges), spinules usually ± patent to erecto-patent, rarely some spinules subrecurved, body ± gradually narrowing into cylindrical cone 0.8–1(–1.1) mm long, ca. 0.3 mm thick; beak 3.5–4 mm long; pappus white, 5–5.5 mm. Agamosperm."A


Asia-Tropical: Pakistan nativeA,B,C; West Himalaya (Jammu-Kashmir nativeA,D)


C. J. L. van Soest - 30. Taraxacum in Rechinger K. H., Flora Iranica 122. 1977
D. Kirschner J., Štěpánek J., Klimeš L. & al., The Taraxacum flora of Ladakh, with notes on the adjacent regions of the West Himalaya in Phytotaxa 457: 1-409. 2020