Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/427

Taraxacum.] 1. T. officinale, ''Wigg. Prim. Fl. Holsat.'' 56.—Root long, stout, black. Leaves very variable, 2-6 in. long, oblanceolate or linear-obovate or spathulate, sinuate-toothed or runcinate-pinnatifid, witb broad triangular lobes pointing downwards, terminal lobe larger, usually rounded. Scapes 2–8 in. high. Head ⅓–1½ in. diam. Involucre campanulate; inner bracts linear, often thickened towards the tip; outer shorter and broader, erect or reflexed. Achenes narrow-obovoid, ribbed, the ribs muricate above the middle, beak long, equalling or exceeding the achene itself.—''Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 152; Kirk, Students Fl.'' 361. T. dens leonis, ''Desf. Fl. ''Atlant. ii. 228; ''Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 165.

Erect leafy annual or perennial succulent herbs, juice milky. Leaves alternate or radical, entire or toothed or pinnatifid; cauline often amplexicaul. Heads peduncled, in terminal irregularly branched corymbs or panicles, homogamous. Involucre ovoid, usually becoming conical after flowering; bracts imbricated in several series, the outer smaller. Receptacle flat, naked. Florets all ligulate. Anthers shortly tailed at the base. Achenes ovoid or ellipsoid, more or less compressed, ribbed and often transversely rugose, not beaked. Pappus-hairs copious, in many series, soft, white, simple.

1. S. asper, ''Hill, Herb. Brit.'' i. 47.—A tall succulent annual herb 2–3 ft. high, with a hollow grooved stem, glabrous or sparsely glandular above. Leaves lanceolate, entire or toothed or pinnatifid;