Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
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Taraxacum bracteatum
Dandelion
Asteraceae
Disturbed alpine grassland, gardens, disturbed sites, roadsides, in damp places. Kosciuszko National Park and Albury.
Introduced perennial herb to 0.35 m high at the seeding stage (to 0.2 m high at flowering). Flower stalks hairless at flowering except below the flower head, usually rose-purple throughout, usually with 1 or 2 leaf like bracts. Leaves basal, 10–25 cm long, 30–50 mm wide, dark green, becoming hairless; dissected, with 3–5 pairs of lateral pointed to hooked lobes. Leaf stalks brown-purple with interwoven strands of green and purple (visible with a X 5 lens or the macro app on your phone/tablet), winged, the wings broader closer to the leaf blades. Flower heads about 45 mm in diameter, with many yellow 'petals'. Flower heads behind the 'petals' oblong-bell-shaped. Lowermost bracts surrounding the flower heads 5–7 mm long, 1–2 mm wide, usually with torn margins, pointing up to outwards, with a narrow white-border (about 0.1 mm). Flowers Sept.–Apr. Seeds 3.5–4.5 mm long, olive-brown to straw-coloured.
VICFLORA description: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/ff73a2eb-c7d7-4cb0-bab2-94664b7dae81 (accessed 3 May 2021)
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