Mongolian dandelion is the common native dandelion of China and Korea, and in China it is the plant usually meant by the traditional remedy name pu gong ying. It looks a lot like the common dandelion of American lawns, but the outer green bracts under its flower head hug the head instead of curling back. It is also called Chinese dandelion.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A perennial about 3–10 in (8–25 cm) tall, with a flat rosette of lobed leaves and a tapering root.
- Flowers
- Single yellow flower heads on hairy stalks. The heads are fairly small and a slightly deeper yellow; the outer green bracts under the head have small hornlike tips.
- Flowering time
- Mainly spring, sometimes again into early fall.
- Fruit
- Brownish seeds topped with a fluffy white parachute.
Look-alikes
common dandelionTaraxacum officinale
Check the green bracts under the flower: on common dandelion the outer ones curl sharply backward, while on Mongolian dandelion they stay hugging the flower head.
Why they get mixed upBoth have yellow flower heads and similar toothed leaves.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- grasslands
- roadsides
- cultivated fields
- Range
- Native to East Asia: Mongolia, northern and central China, the Korean Peninsula, and northern Kyushu in Japan. The dandelion of US lawns and roadsides is the common dandelion, not this species.
- Preferred conditions
- Grows in open, often disturbed ground.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- Can set seed without pollination.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- Its leaves were recorded as a medicine in China as early as AD 659, and the dried plant is still used in East Asian herbal medicine and teas.
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