Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Taraxacum aristum
Mountain Dandelion
Asteraceae
Open forest, woodland, and grassland, mainly in subalpine areas. ACT, the mountains to the west, and Kosciuszko National Park.
Perennial herb to 0.3 m high at the seeding stage (to 0.2 m high in flower). Flower stalks white-woolly in bud, hairless at flowering. Leaves in a basal rosette, 8-26 cm long, 8-25 mm wide, often more or less entire, sometimes dissected with 6–8 blunt lobes on each side, midribs green or purple. Leaf stalks narrowly winged, often purple at the base. Flower heads 15-20 mm in diameter, with many lemon yellow 'petals'. Flower heads behind the 'petals' oblong-bell-shaped. Bracts appressed to the flower head with narrow white borders and fringed margins, and a small dark hard blunt tip. Flowers Dec.–Mar. Seeds 4–6 mm long, yellow-brown, dark grey, or red to reddish brown or blackish-purple.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
Rare Vic.
VICFLORA description: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/ece0231b-71e9-4fc0-968f-bdd1d940bfa1 (accessed 3 May 2021)
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