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Cypsela of Taraxacum aristum cleaned to remove pappus and leave the achenes. Species shows interesting variation in fruit colour which is consistent within a flowerhead and possibly consistent for the individual. Fruit colour also appears to match that of the parent plant.
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Steppes, Tasmania, Australia
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Cypsela of Taraxacum aristum (mountain dandelion) collected from The Steppes, Tasmania.
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The native Taraxacum aristum (mountain dandelion - left) and the introduced Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion - right) flowerheads placed next to each other. Plants growing at the nursery of the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens.Taraxacum officinale is known to be apomictic (ie the flowers do not fertilise and the seeds produced are vegetative clones of the parent plant). The reproductive system of Taraxacum aristum is not clear. Flowerheads only last for about two days, only seem to open in sunny weather and pollinators have rarely been observed. Despite this seed production is prolific.
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Fruit head of Taraxacum aristum (mountain dandelion). Plants grown at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens.
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A comparison of Taraxacum fruits for identification purposes. The fruits of the native T. aristum seems to be readily distinguishable by having a longer cone that transitions more smoothly with the fruit body, than the introduced T.officinale.T. officinale has a cone roughly 1/5 the size of the body whereas T. aristum has a cone over 1/3 the size of the body.
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Steppes, Tasmania, Australia
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Central Plateau, Tasmania, Australia
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Central Plateau, Tasmania, Australia
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Cypsela of Taraxacum aristum cleaned to remove pappus and leave the achenes. Species shows interesting variation in fruit colour which is consistent within a flowerhead and possibly consistent for the individual. Fruit colour also appears to match that of the parent plant.
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Steppes, Tasmania, Australia
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Fruits of the native Taraxacum aristum (mountain dandelion). Currently it appears that plants produce either yellow or brown fruits.
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Steppes, Tasmania, Australia
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Cypsela of Taraxacum aristum (mountain dandelion) collected from The Steppes, Tasmania.
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Steppes, Tasmania, Australia
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Steppes, Tasmania, Australia
