Japanese name: シロバナタンポポ（白花蒲公英） Scientific name:Taraxacum albidum
[Overview]
A perennial about 30 cm tall, found along roadsides and in vacant lots.
The leaves are simple and basal, lanceolate, 15–20 cm long and 3–7 cm wide, and moderately pinnately lobed.
The leaves tend to rise more obliquely than those of other dandelions, and their color is a pale green.
A white flower head about 4 cm across is borne at the tip of the flower stalk.
At flowering time the flower stalk is as long as the leaves or longer.
The involucre is pale green, with outer bracts half as long as the inner bracts or longer, and their upper parts spread outward or stand erect.
It reproduces by parthenogenesis, and the fruits have a pappus and are carried by the wind.
[History]
Documents confirm that it was distributed in Kyoto in the middle of the Edo period, but it is unknown whether it is a prehistoric naturalized plant or a natural hybrid.
