Dandelion (P) — Taraxacum officinale — Family: Asteraceae — Aster

Common dandelion is a simple perennial (no branching) with a basal rosette that has deeply lobed leaves that generally point back towards the center of the rosette. Probably the most common weed in maintained turf. Dandelion can tolerate a wide variety of site conditions and soils. A well tap-rooted perennial, dandelion forms a simple rosette of leaves and produces bright yellow flowers on leafless stalks. Dandelion produces a puffball seedhead globe very rapidly after mowing. The seeds are easily dispersed by wind and tracking on equipment. The bright-yellow flowers are easily identifiable in April.

Also Known As...

• Eurasian dandelion
• lions-tooth
• blow-ball
• cankerwort

Elongated	Notches	Clump

long jagged-tooth leaves from a rosette with an aggressive long taproot

bright yellow, solitary flowers produced on leafless, hollow stems; 'puffball' seed carrier

looks like chicory as a rosette, distinctly different flowers

all plant parts exude latex when broken or damaged

adapted to most conditions (dandelion field forever)

dandelion is one of the first perennials to establish in new seedings

Because dandelion is so common, many people assume other weeds to be dandelion.

Those weeds most often mistaken for dandelion are chicory, catsear, curly dock and perennial sowthistle. Chicory is probably most frequently misidentified as dandelion as they both have jagged, deeply-toothed leaves in a simple perennial rosette. The lobes on chicory are often not as symmetrical as dandelion and they will point out and away from the center. Chicory leaves have a row of spines along the mid-rib on the underside of the leaf that is absent on dandelion.

Curly dock has very wavy margins which can initially appear as lobes. However, closer inspection will reveal that curly dock has lacks that toothed lobes of dandelion. Sowthistle can easily be distinguished from dandelion by its the spines that run along the edge of the leaf.

Links:

• Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
• Curly Dock (Rumex crispus)
• Perennial Sowthistle (Sonchus arvensis)
• Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)

Dandelion is well adapted to many site conditions. It is able to propagate both by seed and vegetatively. Further, the well developed tap root can help regenerate top growth from mowing and herbicide treatment. Raising the mowing height providing adequate fertility will help to favor existing turfgrass and limit or reduce dandelion populations. dandelion fields forever

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