Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

POTATO DANDELION

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Krigia dandelion (L. ) Nutt.

Cherokee County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 4-18 inches

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: April, May, June

Stems:

Flowers borne on unbranched, mostly glabrous flowering stalk arising from small, potato-like tuber.

Leaves:

All basal or sometimes with single pair just above base; linear to narrowly-lanceolate, 1.2 to 8 inches long, 1/12 to 1 inch wide, glabrous or sometimes pubescent beneath head; margins entire or toothed to few-lobed.

Inflorescences:

Head, solitary, showy, 1.2+ inch broad, terminal on flowering stalk.

Flowers:

Involucre 1/3 to 3/5 inch tall; bracts 9-18, in single series, turned downward in age; ray florets 25-35; ligules 1/2 to 3/5, yellowish-orange; disk florets absent.

Fruits:

Achenes, about 1 inch long, flat, ribbed, hairy, tipped with 20-40 unequal hair-like bristles plus whorl of 10-15 short, inconspicuous scales, enclosing small seed.

Habitat:

Low, damp, chiefly open sites; prairies, fields, meadows, open woods, and roadsides; light acidic soils; sandstone, chert or granite.

Distribution:

Southeast 1/4 of Kansas.

Comments:

The heads open during the morning under sunny conditions. Potato dandelion will not transplant well and is difficult to grow.

Potato dandelion inflorescence