Japanese name: アカミタンポポ（赤実蒲公英） Scientific name:Taraxacum laevigatum
[Overview]
A perennial 10–25 cm tall, found along roadsides and on vacant lots.
Milky sap exudes when the stems or leaves are damaged.
The leaves are simple and basal, lanceolate, 3–25 cm long and 0.5–6 cm wide, and pinnately divided.
A single yellow flower head 1–3 cm across is borne at the tip of a flower stalk rising erect from the leaf axils.
The florets that make up the flower head are all ligulate florets.
The involucre is green, and the outer involucral bracts curve back outward.
It blooms most in March–May, but is seen flowering all year round.
The fruit is a dark red to reddish brown achene with a cylindrical beak and a pappus, and is dispersed by the wind.
The flower heads and achenes tend to be smaller than those of Seiyo-tanpopo, and it is distinguished by its reddish achenes.
[Notes]
It is designated as an alien species requiring caution under the Invasive Alien Species Act.
