Taraxacum californicum

Munz & I. M. Johnston

Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 52: 227. 1925.

Common names: California dandelion
EndemicConservation concern
Synonyms: Taraxacum ceratophorum var. bernardinum Jepson
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 19. Treatment on page 248. Mentioned on page 242, 243, 249.

Plants 3.5–10 (–20) cm (to 30 cm in fruit); taproots branched. Stems 1–10+, ascending to decumbent (at and after flowering) (occasionally erect), usually purplish, (mostly at or below foliage before fruiting) glabrous, often cobwebby-villous basally. Leaves 10–20, horizontal to patent; petioles usually broadly, sometimes narrowly winged; blades oblanceolate to narrowly oblong, sometimes linear-oblanceolate, 5–12 × 1–2 (–3) cm, bases cuneate, margins toothed or denticulate, occasionally with basal lobes, rarely some entire, lobes straight or slightly retrorse, lanceolate to triangular-long-acuminate, teeth narrowly to broadly triangular, straight to retrorse, apices obtuse to rounded or ± acute, faces glabrate or glabrous. Calyculi 9–12, appressed, green, sometimes ± hyaline, often purplish, ovatelanceolate to broadly ovate bractlets in 2 series, 5–7 × 1.7–4.3 mm, margins hyaline, purplish (at least distally) or white, scarious, apices acuminate to long-acuminate or widely caudate, tips ± rounded, erose, hornless. Involucres green, tips purplish gray, broadly campanulate, 11–16 mm. Phyllaries 12–16 in 2 series, lanceolate to lanceolate-linear, 2–3.5 mm wide, margins not or narrowly scarious, sometimes broadly so basally, hyaline, apices rounded, erose, scarious. Florets: corollas pale-yellow, outer abaxially striped pale purplish, 9–10 × 1.5–2. Cypselae pale-brown, bodies obovoid, flattened, 2.2–2.7 mm, cones narrowly conic, 0.5–0.7 mm, beaks slender, 6–9.5, ribs 15–16, narrow, faces muricate distal 2/3–3/4; pappi creamy, 4.5–5.5 mm. 2n = 16.


Phenology: Flowering late spring–summer.
Habitat: Moist alpine meadows in yellow pine forest zone
Elevation: 1900–2400 m

Discussion

Taraxacum californicum is known only from the San Bernardino Range. It is easily distinguished from T. ceratophorum by the lack of horns on the phyllaries and bractlets of calyculi.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"fine" is not a number.

... more about "Taraxacum californicum"
rounded;acuminate;long-acuminate or widely caudate +
scarious +
ovate +  and lanceolate +
paniculiform +  and corymbiform +
indeterminate +  and determinate +
Luc Brouillet +
Munz & I. M. Johnston +
cuneate +
slender +
compound +  and simple +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (12 cm120 mm <br />0.12 m <br />) +
linear-oblanceolate;oblanceolate;narrowly oblong +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
tuberculate +, rugose +, muricate +  and smooth +
flattened;obovoid +
0.22 cm2.2 mm <br />0.0022 m <br /> (0.27 cm2.7 mm <br />0.0027 m <br />) +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
broadly ovate;lanceolate +
0.17 cm1.7 mm <br />0.0017 m <br /> (0.43 cm4.3 mm <br />0.0043 m <br />) +
filiform +
white +  and cream-colored or yellowish +
California dandelion +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br />) +
zygomorphic +, actinomorphic +  and (3-)5-merous +
tapered +, beaked +, flattened +, obcompressed +, compressed +, prismatic +, fusiform +, ellipsoid +, columnar +  and clavate +
1900–2400 m +
glabrous +  and glabrate +
muricate +
winged +  and beaked +
dispersed +
Moist alpine meadows in yellow pine forest zone +
indeterminate +
each +  and sessile +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
campanulate;cylindro-campanulate or urceolate +
sessile +  and petiolate +
horizontal +  and patent +
10 (?) +  and 20 (?) +
straight +
lanceolate +  and triangular-long-acuminate +
hyaline +, white +  and purplish +
denticulate +  and toothed +
purplish +  and striped pale +
2-carpellate +
persistent +
0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br /> (0.55 cm5.5 mm <br />0.0055 m <br />) +
Flowering late spring–summer. +
closing +  and later +
distinct +  and coherent +
12 +  and 16 +
subequal +  and unequal +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br />) +
Bull. Torrey Bot. Club +
bearing subulate enations +, hairy +  and bristly +
flat;convex +
15 +  and 16 +
exalbuminous +
Endemic +  and Conservation concern +
1 (?) +  and 10 (?) +
ascending +  and decumbent +
cobwebby-villous +  and glabrous +
1 +  and 10 +
scapiform +
appendaged +  and truncate +
papillate +
Taraxacum ceratophorum var. bernardinum +
Taraxacum californicum +
Taraxacum +
species +
purplish gray +
campanulate +, hornless +  and rounded +
1.1 cm11 mm <br />0.011 m <br /> (1.6 cm16 mm <br />0.016 m <br />) +
straight +
triangular +
with branched caudices +  and taprooted +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br /> (400 cm4,000 mm <br />4 m <br />) +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br />) +