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Dandelion / Maslačak (cristate)
Taraxacum officinale
45.7865, 15.958
Field Notes
Description:
Taraxacum officinale grows from generally unbranched taproots and produces one to more than ten stems that are typically 5 - 40 cm tall but sometimes up to 70 cm tall. The stems can be tinted purplish, they are upright or lax, and produce flower heads that are held as tall or taller than the foliage. The foliage is upright growing or horizontally orientated, with leaves having narrowly winged petioles or being unwinged. The stems can be glabrous or are sparsely covered with short hairs. Plants have milky latex and the leaves are all basal, each flowering stem lacks bracts and has one single flower head. The yellow flower heads lack receptacle bracts and all the flowers, which are called florets, are ligulate and bisexual. On the my photos, however there is an unusual case of how dandelion should look like because the four flowers grown together like siamese brothers. Why is it happening I don't know, but if anyone has any kind of explanation I would be glad to read it ;) tnx!
Habitat:
It is native to Eurasia and can be found growing in temperate regions of the world, in lawns, on roadsides, on disturbed banks and shores of water ways, and other areas with moist soils. I have spotted few of this "mutant" flowers along the river but now further away from it and that makes me thing whether some compounds brought by the river have affected its development.
Notes:
It is considered a weed, especially in lawns and along roadsides, but it is sometimes used as a medical herb and in food preparation. Common dandelion is well known for its yellow flower heads that turn into round balls of silver tufted fruits that disperse in the wind called "blowballs" or "clocks".
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