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Taraxacum laevigatum

Common name:	Red-Seed Dandelion	Family:	Compositae
Author:	(Willd.)DC.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Most of Europe, including Britain.
Habitat:	Dry pastures on sandy or calcareous soils, heaths, waste ground, walls etc[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Leontodon erythrospermum[B,P] T. disseminatum[B,P] T. erythrospermum[B,P] T. lacistophyllum[B,P] T. scanicum[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Akami-Tanpopo [E], Dandelion [E], Red-seed Dandelion [B], Rock Dandelion [P], Zandpaardebloem [D],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	laevigatum = smooth
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Britain(Wales) Germany Us

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.2m. . It is in flower from April to June. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Apomictic (reproduce by seeds formed without sexual fusion). The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds, Walls.

Edible Uses

Coffee Flowers Leaves Root Tea.

Leaves - raw or cooked[177].

The following uses are also probably applicable to this species, though we have no records for them[K]

Root - cooked[183].
Flowers - raw or cooked[183]. The unopened flower buds can be used in fritters[183].
The whole plant is dried and used as a tea[177, 183].
A pleasant tea is made from the flowers. The leaves and the roots can also be used to make tea.
The root is dried and roasted to make a coffee substitute.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a well-drained humus-rich soil in full sun or light shade.
Many species in this genus produce their seed apomictically. This is an asexual method of seed production where each seed is genetically identical to the parent plant. Occasionally seed is produced sexually, the resulting seedlings are somewhat different to the parent plants and if these plants are sufficiently distinct from the parents and then produce apomictic seedlings these seedlings are, in theory at least, a new species.

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a cold frame and either surface-sow or only just cover the seed. Make sure the compost does not dry out. Germination should take place within 2 weeks. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle, choosing relatively deep pots to accommodate the tap root. Plant them out in early summer.
Division in early spring as the plant comes into growth.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Taraxacum+laevigatum
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