Taraxacum albidum

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Campanulids
Ordo: Asterales

Familia: Asteraceae
Subfamilia: Cichorioideae
Tribus: Cichorieae
Subtribus: Crepidinae
Genus: Taraxacum
Sectio: T. sect. Mongolica
Species: Taraxacum albidum
Name

Taraxacum albidum Dahlst., 1907
Synonyms

Taraxacum albiflorum Koidz.
Taraxacum officinale var. albiflorum Makino

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental:Asie
Regional:Eastern Asie
Japan (Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu), Ryukyu Isl.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References

Dahlstedt, G.A.H., Acta Horti Bergiani 4(2): 11, pl. 1, f. 9–15. 1907.

Links

Hassler, M. 2018. Taraxacum albidum. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2018. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 May 24. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2018. Taraxacum albidum. Published online. Accessed: May 24 2018.
The Plant List 2013. Taraxacum albidum in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 May 24.
Tropicos.org 2018. Taraxacum albidum. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 May 24.

Vernacular names
English: Japanese dandelion
日本語: シロバナタンポポ（白花蒲公英）
한국어: 흰민들레

Taraxacum albidum is a species of dandelion that grows in eastern Eurasia.[1] A member of the Asteraceae, it is a perennial herbaceous plant native to southern Japan.

It is sometimes mistaken for Taraxacum coreanum, but T. coreanum grows wild chiefly in the Korean Peninsula and some parts of China. Taraxacum albidum is a hybrid between T. coreanum and Taraxacum japonicum (Tatsuyoshi Morita, Moleculer phylodenetic analysis of polyoloid complex of East Asian Taraxacum [sic], 1996-1997).[2]
Features
The flowers are held singly on smooth stems above the basal rosette of leaves

The deeply lobed leaves of this tap-rooted perennial plant form a basal rosette from which the long, slightly downy, unbranched hollow scapes (flower stalks) rise to around 40 cm (1 ft 4in). It blooms once a year, usually in spring (March to May)[1] but sometimes in late autumn. Each scape bears a single flower head consisting of many small, white ray florets, opening from a rounded bud consisting of narrow green bracts.

It is pentaploid (having five sets of chromosomes) and produces seeds asexually, like many other Taraxacum species. Namely, most of the florets make seeds without pollination; however, a few of them require pollination. For this reason, it can be hybridized with other species.

After the flower closes, it later opens as the familiar spherical seedhead or "clock", as in other dandelions. The seedhead consists of many single-seeded fruits or achenes, each attached to a pappus of fine hairs that acts as a parachute to enable wind dispersal of the seeds, sometimes over long distances. The seeds remain dormant until autumn.

The leaves wither to avoid heat damage for several months of the summer. In autumn, new leaves emerge and continue photosynthesizing until the next summer.
References

Plants for a Future online database: Taraxacum albidum
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-10-25.