Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Common Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale   L.
Members of Asteraceae:
Members of Taraxacum with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 6 » Order Asterales » Family Asteraceae
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AuthorL.
DistributionThroughout the state. The gaps in the map are artifacts of collecting and this plant no doubt occurs in every county.

Native of Eurasia; in N.A. throughout.
AbundanceCommon to abundant throughout. Huge sums of money are spent trying to eliminate this weed from lawns, and yet...
HabitatRoadsides, lawns, campus weed, garden weed, vacant lots, sidewalks, waste places, fields, pastures.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting essentially throughout the year.
IdentificationCommon Dandelion needs no introduction. See T. erythrospermum -- a very similar species that is easily overlooked; it has more strongly and narrowly dissected leaves. The fruiting "heads" are a favorite of kids to blow on to disperse the seeds.
Taxonomic Comments
Other Common Name(s)
State RankSE
Global RankG5
State Status
US Status
USACE-agcpFACU link
USACE-empFACU link
County Map - click on a county to view source of record.
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B.A. SorrieWhispering Pines, yard weed, late March 2015. MoorePhoto_non_natural
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