Latin tarasacon, from the Persian tarkhashqun — bitter herb.
Perennial herbs, taprooted, glabrous to hairy. Stems absent. Leaves basal, margins entire, toothed, lobed or divided, petiolate. Capitula radiate, terminal, solitary, on long stalks. Involucral bracts in 2 rows, overlapping, the outer spreading or curved backwards. Receptacle pitted, convex. Florets bisexual, ligulate, yellow or rarely whitish. Achenes obovoid, slightly compressed, ribbed, long-beaked, hairy or glabrous. Pappus of many barbed bristles.
Several species have become naturalised in Australia, some are common weeds.
Rosetted herb with solitary capitula on bare stalks; all florets ligulate; achenes beaked.
60 to 2500 species (depending on species definitions) from most parts of the world but mainly Europe, Asia, N Africa and N America; 2 species native to E Australia.
Dudman & Richards (1997).
Source: (2002). Dahlia. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
