Taraxacum polium

Taraxacum polium is a perennial herbaceous plant distinguished by its dense indumentum and finely divided leaves. The foliage is broadly green and covered with abundant white, hyaline hairs giving a bluish-grey appearance. Leaves are lanceolate to oblong in shape with long lobes, often reflexed at the base and more sigmoid or falcate above. Lobes are narrow, acute, and sometimes parallel-sided, with margins that are generally entire but may be weakly denticulate. The terminal lobe is hastate to sagittate, while the lateral lobes vary from patent to hamate or sigmoid. Upper lobes are typically narrower and more approximate than the lower ones. Some leaves exhibit pink coloration near the tips on the lower surface. The scapes are slender, sparsely covered in arachnoid hairs, and often tinged with pink in the upper portions. The involucral bracts are short and broadly ovate. Outer bracts are green to dark purplish with purple or cornified tips; inner bracts are linear, paler in color, and may also appear purplish. The capitulum is small, full, and convex, measuring 35–40 mm in diameter. Ligules are canaliculate with denticulate, purplish apices and dark violet basal markings. Anthers are dark violet, and styles are greenish and exserted beyond the corolla. Achenes are approximately 2.5 mm long, with a conical, pyramidal apex and a pale rostrum measuring around 1 mm. …

Taraxacum polium is native to southeastern Sweden, where it occurs primarily on the island of Gotland. The type specimen was collected in 1910 from a moist railway embankment in Endre parish. In its native range, the species inhabits grasslands, meadows, roadsides, and woodland margins, typically on moist or sandy soils. The species has been introduced to British Columbia, Canada, where it is found as a roadside and urban weed. A representative specimen was collected in urban Vancouver near the intersection of Clark Drive and East 13th Avenue, growing at the north edge of a small park along an alleyway.

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